Melania Trump has offered a curious glimpse into her relationship with Barron, appearing to let some mother-son tension slip into view.
The 56-year-old first lady appeared for a softball interview on Fox Business’s The Big Money Show on Wednesday when she was asked by co-host Taylor Riggs how much time she gets with her 20-year-old son.
“You are so busy and such an inspiration to young moms out there as well who are trying to do it all—run businesses, charities, organize state dinners, umm, run a family,” Riggs told the first lady.
“Do you still try to get your family together for Sunday night dinners or try to see Barron when you can? What are pieces of advice for moms who feel like they’re so stretched thin, trying to do it all, but at the end of the day just want maybe a dinner at night with their family?” she asked.
Melania’s answer was decidedly practical. “It’s good to schedule, right?” she said. “It’s always good because everybody’s so busy.”
She then began reflecting on her own life.
“My husband is working—sometimes he’s in the Oval Office till 9:30 at night, right? So do you wait that you will have dinner? You don’t, because he’s busy. I’m busy too,” she said, even though she is believed to be living in New York City most of the time, while Donald Trump lives separately at the White House.
Melania proceeded to offer a surprisingly candid glimpse into her relationship with Barron, appearing to suggest that they were both happy to have some distance between each other.
“It’s less and less the family time. It’s suffering because of it,” she said. “But that’s OK. We are here to work, to do a good job, and that’s what matters. And Barron is already a young man, so sometimes he’s maybe even happy that, you know, I just want to do my stuff. And that’s okay.”
The White House and Melania’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Melania’s comment marks a curious turn from just January, when she told now-ousted Fox host Maria Bartiromo that she has her hands full with Barron, who was 19 at the time.
“You need to be there for a child nonstop, especially when they need you, especially at that age that Barron is,” Melania said at the time.
Barron, who is beginning his junior year at New York University, opted last year to move back in with his parents and attend classes at NYU’s academic center in Washington, D.C.
The president’s youngest son has come under fire this year for his apparent closeness to members of the controversial “manosphere,” including suspected rapist and sex trafficker Andrew Tate.
The New York Times reported last year that Barron “admired” Tate, 39, and spoke with him on the phone while he was having a suit fitted. Tate himself said in 2024 that he had talked to Barron in the wake of the Butler assassination attempt against his father in July 2024.
Melania, meanwhile, has been more absent than usual from Washington this year, disappearing from public view for an entire month over the summer, the Daily Beast previously reported, amid growing scrutiny of her husband’s close relationship with 34-year-old aide Natalie Harp.
