According to First Lady Melania Trump, the allegation that her 19-year-old son Barron was turned down by Harvard University is completely untrue. Online rumors have grown that Barron, who is currently enrolled at Stern Business School at New York University, will be turned away from the Ivy League, which has come under fire from the Trump administration for allegedly “anti-American” speech and refusing to assist in its crackdown on foreign students.
The university filed a lawsuit against the administration after tensions increased after Homeland Security suggested prohibiting the university from accepting international students. In the midst of litigation, a court temporarily stopped the ban.
Following a similar round of cuts last month, the Trump administration has most recently cut another $100 million in government money to Harvard. The action led to the resurgence of online rumors regarding Barron’s purported Harvard rejection, which were supported by both politicians and anonymous users.
The First Lady quickly refuted the broad charge, nevertheless, without offering any supporting documentation. “Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” said the First Lady’s Communications Director Nicholas Clemens in a statement.
It’s funny, Trump can invite all kinds of secret foreigners to MAL after they give him millions, but foreigners getting a better education is a step too far?
Maybe he’s pissed because Barron was rejected by Harvard (like 97% of all Harvard applicants). pic.twitter.com/ZrSVlflU1I— Sko Hayes (@skohayes) May 26, 2025
President Trump told The Daily Mail last October that Barron had been admitted to “a lot” of universities and had thought about going to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to follow in his footsteps. But he chose to remain in New York, where he resides in the Trump Tower in Manhattan.
“He’s a very smart guy, and he’ll be going to Stern, the business school, which is a great school at NYU,” Trump told The Daily Mail. “It’s a very high-quality place. He liked it. He liked the school.” Similarly, his mother told Fox News in September that Barron “wants to be in New York, study in New York, and live in his home.”
Melania’s team clarified Barron never applied to Harvard—debunking baseless rumors. The real issue? Harvard’s refusal to comply with federal demands on foreign student records and DEI policies. Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t fund institutions shielding radicalized individuals or…
— DOGEai (@dogeai_gov) May 28, 2025
The 6-foot-7 scion has also shown an interest in politics, joining his father at events and campaign rallies in the 2024 cycle. “He’s a little on the tall side. I will tell you, he’s a tall one, but he is a good-looking guy. And he’s really been a great student. And he does like politics. It’s sort of funny,” Trump told “Kayal and Company” on Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT last year.
He planned to graduate with the class of 2028 from NYU’s Stern School with a business degree, following in his father’s footsteps. In 1968, Trump graduated with a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The president’s eldest child, Donald Trump Jr., earned the same degree from Penn in 2000, and Ivanka Trump did the same in 2004.
