There are a million reasons that Barron Trump might decide he wants to live at Trump Tower in Manhattan while he attends NYU’s Stern School of Business.

First and foremost, the family has a home in New York, he goes to school in New York, it just makes sense.

But for most people the “sense” that it would make would be financial — if my kid’s college was near my house, I’d almost insist they live at home so everyone could save money. I don’t have to pay for a dorm, and they don’t have to pay rent anywhere if they don’t want a dorm.

That’s not really a consideration for the Trump family.

When Melania sat down for a rare interview on Fox with host Ainsley Earhardt, their conversation was wide-ranging. But eventually they got around to the topic of her youngest son, who just attended his first day of classes at the prestigious school on September 4th.

Did Melania feel like an empty nest mom? That’s what Earhardt wanted to know, and Melania’s answer was immediate. “I could not say I’m an empty nester. I don’t feel that way.”

She doesn’t feel that way, of course, because her last child isn’t gone. The former first lady told her host that she’d raised Barron to be “his own person” and she wanted to respect his wishes. “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,” she said.

“I’m very proud of what he grew up to [be],” Melania told Earhardt. “His strength. His intelligence. His knowledge, his kindness. It’s admirable.” Any mother would say the same of their child, but it almost seems like Melania was surprised to see that Barron had turned out differently than his brothers and sisters.

I don’t know whether I would include that whole kindness bit, although I understand why she does. For me, knowing that he’s tormented animals and schoolmates and even slapped a nanny kind of ruins the kindness mystique.

And of course, there’s the speculation that Barron is somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. ASD makes a lot of sense, considering what erratic behavior we DO know about and the very abnormal circumstances of his family. Once of the sources for this article was PEOPLE Magazine, and there are several comments like this:

In short, the Trumps are not a traditionally “normal” bunch.

The autism thing is just speculation, to be clear. We have no idea, and there’s never been an official diagnosis. But if Barron is on the spectrum it could act as an explanation for both his behavior and now his decision to stay at home with his mom despite not having to, you might wonder WHY there’s never been such a diagnosis.

That part’s simple: Donald Trump would never let anything like that see the light of day.

I mean, we don’t even have confirmation about some pretty standard medical stuff about Trump himself, and he was the president. We don’t know his real height or real weight, and it took decades of public mockery before he even admitted he had a combover.

Donald Trump would see any child with autism as weak or defective, and he would never allow that to be public knowledge. I bet he’d rather a picture be posted online of his own disgusting toes.

Whether or not Barron has autism, Melania told her Fox host that her son is enjoying his time at college so far.

“I hope he will have a great experience because his life is very different than any other 18, 19-year-old child,” she said, making me wonder if she knows whether he’s 18 or if he’s 19.

All the way back in May, a source told People magazine that Melania planned to “keep her hand on Barron’s future just as much going forward as she has throughout his early and current school years.”

“He is her world,” the source said. “She is proud of him, and she is the primary decision maker on Barron and his future.”

Well, THAT doesn’t exactly sound like the kind of mother who’s raised her child to be his “own person” who makes all of his own decisions. In fact, it makes you wonder how much of a hand she had on Barron’s decision not to be a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention earlier this year.

Barron was given an honorary spot, but through his mother’s office, released a statement that he wouldn’t do it:

While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.

That, in fact, sounds an awful lot like his mom didn’t want him in politics just yet.

In the end, Melania and Barron’s decisions are their own. I just wish they weren’t pretending that everything was going normally, as though they weren’t the most notorious family in the world.

Melania Trump reveals she’s not an empty nester – as Barron still lives at home pic.twitter.com/qmSwaajYFi

— Simo saadi🇲🇦🇵🇸🇺🇸 (@Simo7809957085) September 26, 2024