How Barron Trump became a crucial power player in Melania and Donald’s next move

The crowds at Trump’s political rallies are used to surprises, but earlier this summer there was an appearance which caused a palpable frisson to ripple through the crowd. Although he didn’t address the audience directly, the 6ft 9in figure of 18-year-old Barron Trump stood tall at the Florida event in July. The youngest of Donald Trump’s offspring stood up from his seat, turned on his feet, and began shaking his fist in the air, waving, and making his father’s trademark “thumb’s up” gesture. He didn’t need words, just stepping out of his father’s shadow with such previously unseen vim, was enough for the crowd to go wild and respond with a standing ovation.

“Look at him,” Trump bellowed proudly from the podium. “That’s the first time he’s done it.” Looking down from the stage at Barron, he continued: “That’s the first time, right? You’re pretty popular. He might be more popular than Don and Eric. Hey, Don we gotta talk about it, huh?”

But this wasn’t an impulsive show of support from the only child he has had with his current wife Melania. A month later, there were hints that this was all part of the Trump masterplan to appeal to Gen Zs when Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, revealed that Barron was now being asked for advice on attracting support from younger voters.

Barron is said to have been behind Trump’s on-camera interview with social media influencer Adin Ross — a 90-minute conversation at Mar-a-Lago which was live-streamed on the Kick platform. Ross had previously been kicked off Twitch for using homophobic language and displaying racist messages; now he had an audience with the former president and was giving him a Rolex and Tesla Cybertruck. Trump had previously appeared on YouTube