Former President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his 18-year-old son Barron Trump is “very sought after” by colleges.
The former president said during an interview that aired on Fox News’ Fox & Friends Weekend that his youngest son, who graduated from high school last month, had been applying to colleges and was accepted “everywhere” that he applied.
“He’s amazing actually, in a certain way,” Trump said on Sunday. “He’s tall, good-looking…a very good student. And he’s applied to colleges and gets into everywhere he goes. He’s very sought after from standpoint he’s a very smart guy. He’s a very tall guy. And he’s a great kid. He’s cool, he’s pretty cool, I’ll tell ya.”
The former president went on to suggest that Barron’s college search had been altered due to “rioting” taking place during recent pro-Palestinian protests at campuses across the nation after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that left about 1,200 dead. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war in Gaza following the attack.
“Six months ago you look at a college, and you sort of want a certain college,” Trump said. “And then you see all of these colleges are rioting and maybe you want to go to a different kind of a college. Because there’s plenty of colleges that we also like that are different and they don’t riot.”
Trump also said during the interview that his conviction on felony criminal charges in New York last week had been difficult for his family, including Barron and his mother, former first lady Melania Trump.
“It’s tougher, I think it’s probably in many ways, it’s tougher on my family than it is on me,” he said of becoming the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Sunday.
GIORGIO VIERA/AFP
Barron himself has yet to publicly comment on his plans for the future and potential choice of colleges, although his father has discussed his higher education plans more than once over the past year.
The elder Trump praised Barron as a “great student” during a September 2023 interview with Megyn Kelly and said that he was “thinking about” attending The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the former president’s alma mater.
The online sportsbook Bovada reportedly released a set of odds during the same month that speculated Barron may attend St. John’s University or the University of Miami and play basketball due to his tall stature, despite the ex-president’s son never having publicly expressed an interest in pursuing basketball.
A report from The Daily Beast in April claimed that Barron had been considering New York University in Manhattan, although the report was based on anonymous sources and was unconfirmed by the Trump family and the college.
Meanwhile, speculation has been mounting that Barron could follow in his father’s footsteps by entering politics. Last month, it was announced that the 18-year-old was chosen to serve as one of Florida’s 41-at-large delegates at this year’s Republican National Convention.
However, a statement from Melania Trump’s office quickly shot down the idea, announcing that Barron “regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
