Rumors of Barron Trump’s first foray into politics, like those premature reports of Mark Twain’s death, have been greatly exaggerated.
Many outlets — including The Western Journal — reported Thursday that former President Donald Trump’s youngest son would serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention in July.
Those reports were based on an exclusive from NBC News that said things like “It will soon be Barron Trump’s time to step into the political spotlight” and “Trump’s position as a delegate will be his highest-profile political role thus far.”
It certainly would be … if he were going to accept the role. Which, according to his mother’s office, he is not.
“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,” the Office of Melania Trump told the U.K.’s Daily Mail in a statement Friday.
“It’s now unclear if he will even attend the convention, which takes place in Milwaukee from Monday, July 15 to Thursday, July 18,” the outlet added.
Trump’s younger daughter, Tiffany, and older sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric, were also invited by the Florida Republican Party to travel to Milwaukee to vote for Trump to become officially what he already is for all practical purposes — the Republican nominee in November’s presidential election.
Eric Trump will serve as the delegation’s chairman, NBC reported.
“We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members,” Florida GOP chairman Evan Power told NBC. “Florida is continuing to have a great convention team, but more importantly we are preparing to win Florida and win it big.”
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Donald Trump, 77, won Florida in both of the last two elections, beating former first lady Hillary Clinton by a little over 1 percent in 2016 and then besting Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the state by a more significant 3.3 percent margin in 2020.
Other invited at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention include a number of what NBC called “the former president’s top supporters.”
“Others include Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée; Michael Boulous, Tiffany Trump’s husband; former state Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime Trump ally who has run pro-Trump super PACs; longtime Trump adviser Sergio Gor; former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter, a prominent Trump donor; and a series of state-level Republican politicians who took the risk of endorsing Trump over [Gov. Ron] DeSantis,” NBC reported.
The mainstream outlet made much of the former rivalry between Trump and the Florida governor, who ran against each other for the Republican presidential nomination, pointing out that Florida GOP members “largely lined up behind” Trump even as their governor was still running in the Republican primary.
“In September, party leaders voted to remove a loyalty pledge requirement that would have required GOP presidential candidates to support the eventual Republican nominee to be on the state’s March 19 primary ballot,” NBC reported late Wednesday. “The proposal was supported by Trump but openly opposed by DeSantis’ campaign.”
NBC reached out to the Trump campaign for comment — as did Axios — but received no reply.
Barron Trump has been in the news lately as his father has sought a break from his Manhattan trial to attend his high school graduation next week, a request Judge Juan Merchan granted.
The trial — which NBC and other mainstream outlets continue to insist revolved around so-called “hush money payments to an adult film star” but is actually more accurately described as having to do with the alleged falsification of business records — is expected to continue into at least late May and perhaps even into June.
Axios noted that of all of Donald Trump’s children, only Ivanka Trump — who announced her retirement from political activities in 2022 — was not invited to serve in Florida’s delegation to the convention.
