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Melania Trump has opened up about her son Barron’s decision to attend college in New York City, saying she doesn’t feel like “an empty nester” – because he still lives at home.
In her first sit-down interview in over two years, Melania told Fox & Friends’s Ainsley Earhardt that she “respected” her 18-year-old son’s decision to attend college at New York University, which means he can live at home at Trump Tower during his studies.
“I could not say I’m an empty nester, I don’t feel that way,” she said.
“I raised Barron as [his] own person and give him his own ‘yes and nos’. I respect that, it was his 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.”
Barron’s childhood has largely been split between his father’s Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, and the family’s sprawling Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.
After graduating from high school in Florida in May, he began his freshman year at NYU earlier this month.
Melania fawned over her only son in the interview, crediting him as an “incredible young man.”
She said: “I’m very proud of what he grew up to. His strength, his intelligence, his knowledge, his kindness. It’s admirable. And he’s enjoying his college days. I hope he will have a great experience because his life is very different than any other 18 – 19 year-old child.”
When the freshman started at NYU, a flurry of videos popped up on TikTok of the 18-year-old making his way around campus, trailed by Secret Service agents.
Fellow NYU students shared the videos of Barron, aptly described by WIRED as “Sasquatch-esque”: short, frantic, blurry clips of the elusive 6’9” freshman making his way to class.
In the Fox & Friends interview, the former first lady was also asked for her advice on how to navigate being a parent of a blended family, with her husband Donald Trump having four other children with two other women.
“Everybody’s in control of own self,” said Melania. “I’m not in control of my husband. I’m not in control of his children. I’m not even in control of my child.”
Trump has previously revealed that Barron – who Melania has long sought to keep out of the spotlight – has started to take an interest in politics.
“He’s really been a great student. And he does like politics,” Trump told Talk Radio 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia in May. “It’s sort of funny. He’ll tell me sometimes, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do.’”
Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, recently revealed that Barron has been giving advice around how to attract support from younger voters.
The teenager is said to have been behind Trump’s on-camera interview with social media influencer Adin Ross, who is popular with young men.
