Barron Trump, the youngest son of former President Donald J. Trump, who has avoided the spotlight since his father entered politics, said he will serve as one of Florida’s delegates to the Republican National Convention. Melania Trump’s office made the announcement Friday.
In a statement released two days after Mr. Barron, 18, was elected as an at-large delegate to the Florida Republican Party, Mrs. Trump’s office said it was “honored” that Mr. Barron had been selected, but “unfortunately… I am declining to participate for these reasons.” advance promise. ”
The Trump campaign reached out to a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump for comment, but she did not immediately respond to questions about what that promise would be.
Mr. Barron, who graduates from high school next week and plans to attend college in the fall, has taken little part in his father’s political career.
While her son and Mrs. Trump have been largely absent from the campaign trail during the Republican primaries, Mrs. Trump has been unable to support her son, even though several of her son’s siblings have campaigned for their father in the spotlight. has strictly protected its privacy.
Hours before Mrs. Trump’s office released the statement, Mr. Trump suggested in a radio interview that Mr. Barron, whom he described as “good-looking” and “tall,” was one of his political advisers. .
“He was a really great student. And he likes politics,” Trump said on Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. “It’s kind of funny. Sometimes he says to me, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do.'”
Mr. Barron’s older brothers, Donald Jr. and Eric, are campaigning for their father in this year’s Republican nomination race, and both are popular politicians in their own right. They and their sister Tiffany were among 41 at-large delegates chosen by the Florida Republican Party for its national convention in July. Another sister, Ivanka Trump, has not participated in her father’s political ventures since leaving the White House.
The Florida Republican Party did not immediately respond to questions about how Barron was chosen as a delegate.
All four of Barron’s siblings spoke at party conventions in 2016 and 2020, when Barron was still a minor. The Trump campaign and Mrs. Trump’s office have not responded to questions about whether Mr. Barron will attend or participate in any capacity at the 2024 convention, and Mr. Trump also said in a radio interview that Mr. Didn’t mention it.
Trump has said for months that his wife would be on the campaign trail, but she remains absent from rallies, speeches and victory celebrations. Last month, she participated in a fundraiser for the LGBT conservative group Log Cabin Republicans.
