At Inauguration, Melania and Barron Trump Greet a Limelight They Once Avoided
The returning first lady and Barron Trump, the son she had once shielded from the public eye, used Monday’s inauguration to reintroduce themselves.
The first lady, Melania Trump, embracing President Trump on Monday. She has indicated she’ll be in Washington more than during her husband’s first term. Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Katie Rogers
By Katie Rogers
Katie Rogers is a White House reporter who covered the first Trump term and wrote a book on modern first ladies, including Melania Trump.
Jan. 20, 2025
Updated 5:31 p.m. ET
During her husband’s first presidential inauguration, in January 2017, Melania Trump was a newcomer to Washington, a first lady who draped herself in baby-blue cashmere to evoke memories of Jacqueline Kennedy and whose tight smile, at moments, seemed to dissolve into a scowl. … The years have evidently changed her.
Throughout her husband’s first term, Mrs. Trump would go on to keep her physical and emotional distance from the capital, choosing to focus on raising her son, Barron, and retreat from the public eye. … While other family members, like Ivanka Trump, have seemingly enjoyed spending years smiling widely for the cameras and posting their travels (and high-status friends) on social media, Mrs. Trump and her son remained closed off. But on Monday, the returning first lady and the son she had once shielded from the public eye used Monday’s inauguration to reintroduce themselves.
One of the biggest changes occurred before they set foot in the capital. Along with the rest of the family, Mrs. Trump has signaled that she will be more unapologetic about the ethical concerns that followed her family through President Trump’s first term. The woman who once abandoned jewelry and skin care lines unveiled her own cryptocurrency, $MELANIA, hours before Mr. Trump’s swearing in. So far, both Trumps have shrugged off complaints.
Barron Trump is now treated as an adviser by his father and as something of a next-generation MAGA mascot by his father’s supporters: He pushed his father to join podcasts during the campaign and urged the sort of crypto projects that his parents are participating in. During the launch of Mr. Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, in September, Barron Trump was named listed as the project’s “DeFi visionary,” a reference to the branch of crypto known as decentralized finance.
Barron Trump walking in a hallway near other men.
Barron Trump appeared at several inauguration events on Monday, spending time with his father’s defense secretary pick.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
Eight years ago, Barron Trump was an 11-year-old who was seen smiling with his sister, Tiffany, as his father was sworn in at the Capitol. On Monday, Barron Trump remained largely by his mother’s side, but the change in him was obvious.
During the ceremony, Barron Trump took prime position, smiling and clapping alongside Elon Musk, the billionaire who has landed near the center of Mr. Trump’s circle of advisers. He shook former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s hand as he departed the dais in the Rotunda. He was also photographed hobnobbing at a congressional luncheon, speaking with Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Hegseth, his father’s nominee for defense secretary. He also animatedly talked with the billionaire Jeff Bezos, who is the chairman of Amazon and the owner of The Washington Post.
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