Eye-Popping Details About Barron Trump's Life And Childhood In New York City

The Trump family has deep roots in New York City, where they've lived for generations and made their fortune. Like his father Donald Trump, the city has a special place in Barron Trump's heart. Donald and Melania Trump's only child together was born in NYC on March 20, 2006, and spent the first decade of his life there. At 11, Barron uprooted his life and moved to the White House after his father was elected president in 2016. The move didn't happen right away, with Barron and his mom spending five months apart from Donald so the boy could finish the school year in Manhattan. However, he eventually temporarily bid goodbye to NYC and said hello to the White House in June 2017.

Following Donald's loss in the 2020 election, the Trumps left the White House, but instead of returning to New York, they put down roots in Palm Beach, Florida. Then-14-year-old Barron attended the exclusive Oxbridge Academy for the next four years before graduating high school in 2024. However, there's apparently no place like New York City for Barron, as he returned to the Big Apple to attend New York University and once again reside at Trump Tower. "It was [Barron's] decision to come here that he wants to be in New York and study in New York and live in his home, and I respect that," Melania told Fox News. Another, more tragic reason Barron picked NYU was that he wanted to honor plans he'd made with his grandmother, Amalija Knavs, who planned to stay in NYC to support him before she passed away in January 2024.

Of course, this is simply scratching the surface of his time in his home city. His childhood there was certainly a lavish one, full of plenty of adventure.

Melania Trump once revealed that she gave her son Barron Trump the nickname "little Donald" because of his similarities to his dad Donald Trump. "[Barron] is a very strong-minded, very special, smart boy. He is independent and opinionated and knows exactly what he wants," she told Parenting.com (per E! News). However, having a strong personality isn't the only thing they have in common; Barron also inherited Donald's expensive taste. While the real estate mogul has a collection of private jets, helicopters, and luxury cars, his youngest son has grown up receiving toys, clothes, and accessories with eye-watering prices considering he would eventually grow out of or replace them in a year or two. Barron has lived an insanely lavish life and gotten the best of everything since he was born, so it's no surprise that even his school bags are way above the average Joe's price range.

just some of barron trump's toys... including a mini mercedes convertible https://t.co/CsJ8Lp1woy pic.twitter.com/SBxVfstG0o

— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) May 5, 2025

Remember that viral video of Barron excitedly talking about his "suitcase" in his Slovenian accent? Well, that bag was actually a Louis Vuitton briefcase that would set you back $9,500 if you wanted to get one of your own. Meanwhile, a 2010 photoshoot of Barron and his parents at their New York City penthouse revealed some of the then-4-year-old's other toys, including a red mini Mercedes convertible equipped with a "Barron" license plate, massive stuffed tigers and lions, model planes, and vintage toy car models that look like collectors' items. In a behind-the-scenes video for that shoot, little Barron could be seen riding his mini Mercedes in their penthouse while getting to enjoy stunning views of Manhattan, providing a glimpse of how much his parents spoiled him when he was a child.

Barron Trump didn't just receive lavish toys, clothes, and accessories from his parents, Donald and Melania Trump; he also got plenty of expensive gifts from their pals. Ellen DeGeneres famously gifted baby Barron a gold stroller that came with a crystal chandelier upon his birth. The gaudy-looking stroller didn't look out of place in the gold-and-marble decor of the Trump family's New York City home and received a stamp of approval from Melania, who even posed for a photo with it and told People, "It's fun. It makes you laugh." 

Barron might have ended up accumulating a store's worth of toys and other belongings because his parents decided that their only child needed his own floor in their three-story, 10,996-square-foot triplex apartment at Trump Tower in Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Barron's floor was an apartment in its own right as it not only featured his massive nursery — likely transformed into a bedroom after he grew older — but also a living room, kitchen, and rooms for Melania and the staff dedicated to taking care of his every need and whim.

Barron is believed to have his own bedroom at the other residences he stayed in growing up: the White House and Donald's Mar-a-Lago estate. But staying in a bedroom after getting used to having your own floor might have felt like he was slumming it, so it's no surprise he immediately ran back to New York City the moment he became an adult and could make his own decisions. Since he began attending New York University, Barron has been staying at their Trump Tower penthouse again, along with Melania, who decided not to live in the White House full-time during her second tenure as first lady.

Barron Trump might be much younger than his older half-siblings Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump and had a very different childhood from them, given that he was the only Trump child who was actually child when Donald Trump first became president, but he has enjoyed most of the same perks as his brothers and sisters, including being able to attend prestigious private schools. Donald and Melania Trump enrolled their only child at one of the most expensive private schools in New York City, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, where Barron studied up until he moved to Washington, D.C., and continued his studies at a different but equally pricey private school, St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Maryland. During Barron's last year as a student at Columbia Prep in 2017, the elite Manhattan school cost upwards of $40,000 per year. As of 2025, the school charges over $67,000 in annual tuition fees from kindergarten to grade 8. This is six times the average cost of attending a private grade school in the U.S. in 2021, according to a study published on the website Education Data Initiative. 

Details about Barron's time at Columbia Prep are scarce, but we do know that before he bid his classmates goodbye and transferred to his Maryland school, he exercised first son privileges and treated all his fellow fifth graders to a two-day, one-night trip to Washington, D.C., which included a visit to the White House. Accompanied by several teachers and Secret Service agents, Barron took his 80 fellow students to meet President Trump and see the sights the capital had to offer before going back to the Big Apple. 

Barron Trump become one of the most famous kids in America when his father Donald Trump got elected president in 2016, but his parents, especially his mom Melania Trump, shielded him from the spotlight, allowing him to enjoy his privacy during his preteen and teenage years. However, Barron had plenty of experience with being in front of the cameras before he stepped foot in the White House as the couple had no problem bringing their son into the limelight back when Donald was just a billionaire and reality television star and Melania was his model wife. Barron was just 2 months old when he made his first TV appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." In an interview published on Oprah.com, Donald and Melania could be seen showing off baby Barron to Gayle King, who visited the family in their Trump Tower penthouse in New York City. "This is his television debut," the real estate tycoon said as he held his son and kissed him on the head. The footage not only showed a tiny Barron in a puff sleeve onesie but also offered a look at his nursery, which had all-white furniture and dozens of stuffed animals.

"Daddy is coming home!"

Who remembers this?

A rare video from "The Apprentice" 2006, with a newborn Barron Trump, the ever-stunning First Lady Melania, and President of the United States, Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aAkIEicBm1

— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) January 25, 2025

Donald and Melania went on to make several television and red-carpet appearances with baby Barron, including the billionaire's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony (pictured above) and a charity event in New York City in 2007. The then-infant even appeared in an episode of his dad's reality series "The Apprentice" before he turned 1 year old. In a 2006 clip that resurfaced on social media, Melania could be seen holding Barron while she and Donald tried to act like a regular, loving husband and wife for the cameras.

While Barron Trump enjoyed almost every luxury growing up in New York City, one thing he didn't have was a nanny. In 2015, Donald and Melania Trump told People that though they had housekeepers, they chose not to hire a nanny for their only son, preferring to raise him themselves. "If you have too much help, you don't get to know your children," Donald explained. Melania suggested that she did the bulk of the actual childrearing, given the real estate tycoon-turned-politician's busy schedule. "I like to be hands-on. I think it's very important. Barron is 9 years old. He needs somebody as a parent there, so I am with him all the time. As you know my husband is traveling all the time," the former model added.

However, Melania's former aide and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff claimed that not only was their no nannies statement false, but Melania also wasn't as hands-on as she insisted and didn't have the best parenting style. In her book "Melania and Me," Winston Wolkoff wrote that Barron spent more time with caretakers and his grandmother than his mom and that Melania allegedly encouraged some of Barron's not-so-great behavior instead of correcting them. "Melania told me a story about how Barron had secretly placed a recording device in the Lincoln Bedroom and timed it so that it made ghost moans and noises when a friend of his was in there," Winston Wolkoff wrote (via SheKnows). "Melania thought it was so cute. 'He's so funny!' she said." This appeared to be consistent with some wild but unproven rumors surrounding Barron's childhood, including claims that he allegedly slapped his nanny in public and was violent toward fellow kids.