Barron Trump will not serve as a delegate at the convention representing his father after all.
According to a statement released on Friday by the office of former First Lady Melania Trump, “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.”
No additional information was provided regarding the reasons for the decision of Donald Trump’s youngest son to not participate in the event.
The declaration was made the day after Trump endorsed his son’s involvement in the Republican convention scheduled for July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
“He’s pretty young, I will say. He’s 17,” Trump said in an interview with Telemundo 51 Miami. “But if they can do that, I’m all for it.”
Trump inaccurately stated his son’s age; Barron Trump actually celebrated his 18th birthday in March.
Notably, other family members such as Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are also delegates, with Eric Trump serving as the chair of Florida’s delegation.
Trump is currently facing ongoing legal problems. Alvin Bragg’s prosecution team in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is aware of the challenges posed by Michael Cohen’s upcoming testimony in Trump’s hush money trial, according to former U.S. attorney and CNN legal analyst Michael Moore. Cohen, a key figure in the trial, is set to testify against Trump, creating significant anticipation in the courtroom.
In a historic event, Trump, the likely Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, faced a criminal trial last month, making him the first former U.S. president to do so.
The Republican Party of Florida revealed that Barron has been chosen as an at-large delegate, joining the 125-member delegation from the state.
The trial concerning Trump’s alleged “hush money” payments will pause next Friday to allow the former president to be present at his son’s high school graduation ceremony.
The prosecution’s key witness and former Trump attorney and fixer at the center of the case could be “the string that they’re [the prosecution] either going to use to tie everything together or it’s going to unravel because of him,” Moore said while appearing on CNN.
“It seems to me they [the prosecution] know they’ve got a problem,” Moore added, explaining that “they know they’ve got a rogue witness,” in reference to Cohen. “That’s what they’re afraid of.”
The trial stemmed from an investigation led by Bragg’s office, resulting in Trump’s indictment in March 2023 for falsifying business records related to hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by Cohen during the 2016 campaign.
Daniels claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006, an allegation he refuted.
Trump has maintained his innocence, stating that the charges are driven by political motives.
