With NYU winter break, will he be in Mar-a-Lago, so DC?

On By Littum

In 2017, Melania and Barron Trump stayed in New York for several months before moving into the White House. Will history repeat itself in 2025?

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  • In 2017, Melania Trump spent the first 5 months of the Trump administration living separately from the president – so Barron could finish school in New York.
  • After graduating from Oxbridge Academy in Florida, Barron Trump enrolled in NYU’s Stern School of Business for fall 2024.
  • NYU students like Barron Trump are on winter break from December 21, 2024 to January 21, 2025, one day after Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

In January 2025, Donald Trump is on his way back to the White House. Will Melania and Barron Trump be there too?

The former president will begin his second term on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025, with Melania Trump as first lady. Barron Trump, the only child of Donald and Melania Trump, previously lived in the White House during Donald Trump’s first term as president, from 2017 to 2020. Now, Barron Trump is a freshman at New York University, which begins its 2025 spring term a day later, on the 21 .January 2025.

Will the president-elect’s youngest son return to New York to study and live in the White House and Mar-a-Lago when school isn’t in session? During her father’s first term, Melania and Barron Trump did not move into the White House until long after Donald Trump took office. Here’s what we know.

After Inauguration Day 2025, Will Melania and Barron Trump Move Into the White House?

During his first term as president, Donald and Melania Trump did not live together at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC — at least for the first few months of his presidency.

In 2017, the third Mrs. Donald Trump spent the first five months of her administration living separately from the president — so she and their only son, Barron Trump, could stay back in New York so he could finish school. He had attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan.

After that, Barron Trump went to school closer to Washington, DC, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, about 14 miles from the White House. He and Melania Trump officially moved in that summer.

At the time, Barron Trump was 11 years old. His protective mother had largely kept him out of the limelight, a trend that continued until he turned 18 in March 2024.

But now that his famous father has been re-elected president, and Barron Trump is a young adult freshman at New York University, it’s natural to wonder if he’ll stay in New York while Donald Trump heads back to Washington, DC. Since Melania Trump’s very protective of Barron Trump and an “empty nester,” a term that describes a parent whose child has left home, is a fantasy most parents of college-aged children can relate to.

According to one People magazine storyan unnamed source said Melania Trump would likely go wherever Barron Trump goes.

When was Donald Trump President?

Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election and his term in the White House was from 2017 to 2021. He lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden and returned to his private club, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on 20 January 2021.

Trump then won the 2024 presidential election against Democratic challenger Vice President Kamala Harris. His second term will begin on January 20, 2025, or inauguration day.

After the 2020 presidential election, Donald, Melania and Barron Trump lived mainly at Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, became known as the Winter White House or Southern White House during the Trump administration. Although Donald Trump used his New York City address as his primary residence for years, he famously made Mar-a-Lago his primary residence in 2019. Typically, Mar-a-Lago is open to members during Palm Beach’s “social season,” approx. from October to April. But the Trump family’s neighborhoods are separate.

After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, Donald, Melania and Barron took Trump home to Mar-a-Lago. Barron Trump lived there until after high school. On May 17, 2024, when he graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, he was one of 116 seniors to receive their diplomas. While a loudspeaker announced the names of the candidates, Barron Trump’s name was not announced, likely a decision to avoid extra attention.

It was during this time that Donald Trump was in court in the hush money case involving an adult porn star, Stormy Daniels. He also had legal problems after the infamous document raid at Mar-a-Lago.

Divisive 2024 presidential election, assassination attempt keeps Barron Trump from campaign appearances

Barron Trump was originally selected to serve as a Florida delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention — which would have been his first official campaign appearance for his father — but Melania Trump stated on May 10 that Barron Trump would not be able to to participate because of “prior obligations.”

In 2020, the entire Trump family – Melania TrumpBarron Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump – attended the Republican National Convention in unison to support former President Donald Trump.

But at the 2024 RNC, when Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination on July 18, Barron Trump was the only immediate Trump family member not in attendance.

A week before, his father survived an assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

When there was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, former first lady released a statement the next day to express her thoughts and concerns: “As I watched the violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized that my life and Barron’s life were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote in a statement. “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine tried to highlight Donald’s passion – his laughter, ingenuity, love of music and inspiration,” Melania Trump wrote. “The core facets of my husband’s life – his human side – were buried under the political machine. Anders, the generous and caring man with whom I have been through the best and worst of times.”

In September, Ryan Routh was arrested in a plot to kill Donald Trump at the president-elect’s golf course near West Palm Beach, Florida.

After the summer of 2024, Barron Trump left Florida. Melania Trump called New York ‘home’ when Barron Trump started college there

In August 2024, Barron Trump left Florida for New York University’s Stern School of Business.

The NYU campus is not far from Trump Tower in Manhattan, where Barron Trump spent much of his childhood and lived until his father was sworn in as the 45th president in early 2017.

It is not known whether Donald or Melania Trump attended rites of passage for their college-bound son. But Melania Trump issued a rare public statement about New York. On social media platform X, Melania Trump posted a photo of the New York City skyline on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, and mentioned how she feels about the iconic destination: “New York City captured my heart the moment I arrived, 28 years ago today. This electrified city is not just my home, it is a colorful canvas where dreams come alive every day.” It was around the same week that Barron Trump and other freshmen start Fall 2024 orientation, college move-in weekends, etc.

Although Melania Trump made several campaign appearances in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, her absence was noticeable during the 2024 presidential election. Following the July 2024 Republican National Convention, she appeared at a Trump rally on October 27, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York City . Barron Trump reportedly did not attend, even though it was less than three miles away from NYU. Interestingly, that same weekend was NYU’s Alumni and Families Weekend. It is not known if Donald and Melania Trump attended their only son’s college event.

After voting in Palm Beach, Florida on Election Day, Melania and Barron Trump attended Donald Trump’s election night party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 5, 2024.

Will Melania Trump stay in New York while Barron Trump goes to college there? Will Melania Trump live in the White House in 2025?

After Barron Trump graduated from Oxford Academy in West Palm Beach in May 2024, he enrolled in New York University’s Stern School of Business in the fall of 2024. He is expected to be part of NYU’s class of 2028.

Living on campus at NYU is optional, but “first-year residents of Manhattan-based schools are assigned to Manhattan residence halls only. There are no exceptions,” according to the university, which has its own NYU housing handle on Instagram.

Although Mar-a-Lago is still Barron Trump’s home, news reports have said he lives in Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, as he attends college nearby (NYU is less than 5 miles from Trump Tower).

According to NYU’s calendar, winter break for NYU students is December 21, 2024 to January 21, 2025, one day after Inauguration Day.

It is not known if Barron Trump will return to the White House when school is out. It’s likely the 18-year-old freshman will still visit the White House and her father’s private club, Mar-a-Lago.

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.