Barron Trump, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s son, has shifted to New York University’s Washington, D.C., campus for his sophomore year and is now residing at the White House. The 19‑year‑old transferred from NYU’s Manhattan location, explaining his absence from New York and enabling him to balance academics with his growing business interests.
At 6 feet 9 inches tall, Barron is hard to miss on any campus. His sudden absence from NYU’s Stern School of Business at the start of the fall 2025 semester fueled speculation, as multiple sources noted he had not been seen around Greenwich Village once classes began in September 2025.
Reports later clarified the situation, revealing Barron had moved to NYU’s Washington, D.C., site on L Street Northwest, about a 15‑minute walk from the White House. The smaller campus hosts between 60 and 120 students per term, creating a more personal environment compared to the 29,000 undergraduates in Manhattan.
According to sources, Barron has rejoined his parents at the White House, returning to the residence where he previously lived during his father’s first presidency. This setup allows him to stay close to family while pursuing his business studies.
His freshman year in Manhattan brought significant security challenges and fewer traditional college experiences. Traveling from Trump Tower to campus in Secret Service SUVs often caused traffic disruptions. Agents were with him constantly, including inside classrooms, where he typically sat in the back, surrounded by protection.
Students said he was rarely seen on campus. One student told TMZ that Barron “hardly exists” there, quickly moving from place to place with his security detail. Kaya Walker, a former NYU College Republicans president, told Vanity Fair that Barron is “sort of like an oddity on campus. He goes to class, he goes home.” She mentioned that a professor once joked he “doesn’t really belong here,” a remark that eventually contributed to her resignation.
The strong security presence made normal student interactions difficult. Although agents wore casual outfits and carried backpacks to blend in, students easily identified them. One classmate said Barron showed interest in joining a basketball game but appeared restricted, saying “he wasn’t really allowed to do stuff.” Another student claimed he was “watched like a zoo animal.”
Still, Barron managed to socialize by connecting with classmates through online gaming, requesting Discord IDs and gamer tags to play titles like FC25 (formerly FIFA).
At times, the presence of federal vehicles caused confusion on campus. In April 2025, members of the university grew concerned after federal cars parked near buildings, only to later discover they belonged to Barron’s Secret Service team, not immigration authorities.
Barron’s involvement in cryptocurrency has become a major focus for him, helping him build substantial wealth and making him an emerging figure in the digital finance space.
He is viewed as the first in the Trump family to identify crypto’s potential. Barron encouraged his family to launch World Liberty Financial (WLFI) in late 2024. The project’s whitepaper lists him as a co‑founder and “web3 ambassador” alongside Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
During the project’s launch event in September 2024, President Trump mentioned that his son had been involved in crypto for years, even joking about his own lack of understanding of the technology. He admitted he didn’t know what a digital “wallet” was, while Barron already had “four wallets or something.” Melania Trump praised her son’s strong technical abilities.
Barron’s role in World Liberty Financial has been financially significant. Estimates place his net worth at around $150 million by fall 2025, primarily from crypto gains and his stake in WLFI, putting him ahead of his mother in personal wealth.
Forbes reports that he holds 10 percent of WLFI and earns 10 percent of its profits. With the company bringing in more than $1.5 billion since launch, his after‑tax revenue from token sales alone is estimated at roughly $38–40 million.
The Trump family’s crypto ventures have been extremely lucrative. Donald Trump Jr.’s assets reportedly grew tenfold to $500 million in a year, while Eric Trump’s fortune increased from $40 million to $750 million. President Trump earned an estimated $2 billion from crypto, contributing to $3 billion in total profit for 2025 and raising his net worth to $7.3 billion, placing him 201st on the Forbes 400 list.
World Liberty Financial experienced a major shift after Donald Trump won the 2024 election. Initially struggling with just $2.7 million in token sales by late October 2024, the company accelerated rapidly after the election results.
A major boost came when crypto figure Justin Sun invested $75 million in World Liberty, coinciding with an SEC pause in its investigation of him. The investment ignited a surge in token sales, and Forbes later projected total sales could reach $675 million by August 2025.
In March 2025, World Liberty introduced USD1, a stablecoin backed by U.S. treasuries, dollars, and similar assets. By May 2025, MGX, backed by the Abu Dhabi government, announced it would use $2 billion worth of USD1, further raising the company’s value.
In October 2025, speculation swirled around Barron after a highly profitable short trade in cryptocurrency. A trader made a major bet against Bitcoin and Ethereum roughly 30 minutes before President Trump announced an additional 100 percent tariff hike on China. The well‑timed move reportedly earned around $160 million.
Observers noted the uncanny timing. Because of Barron’s strong role in WLFI and the broader crypto space, online speculation suggested he might have been the anonymous “whale” behind the trade, possibly benefiting from early knowledge of the announcement.
No verified evidence ties Barron to the trade, but the timing raised questions about potential insider trading and conflicts of interest, given his proximity to presidential decisions and his extensive crypto assets.
The Trump family’s crypto activities have drawn heavy scrutiny from ethics experts, regulators, and financial analysts. The New York Times said World Liberty Financial was “eviscerating the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in a manner without precedent in modern American history.”
An investigation by the Times found that the firm had quietly attempted to gain access to President Trump through payments and currency swap arrangements involving foreign investors, companies, and individuals under investigation or with criminal records. At least one SEC inquiry was dropped after several million dollars were paid to the company.
Regulators have questioned whether WLFI tokens should be classified as unregistered securities under the Howey Test—since purchasers may anticipate profits based on the founders’ efforts. Such a determination could result in serious penalties, and retail investors might see token values collapse if the project is forced to shut down or refund money.
A White House spokeswoman said that because President Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children, there are “no conflicts of interest.” Nonetheless, ethics specialists remain concerned about the close overlap between presidential authority and the family’s crypto ventures.
Outside the crypto sphere, Barron is also exploring luxury real estate opportunities, following the path established by his father.
Sources told People magazine that Barron dedicated the summer of 2025 to business planning, attending meetings with partners, exploring technology projects, and preparing to start his own separate company.
Melania Trump has played an increasingly active role in helping her son adjust to campus life while taking on expanded duties in the second Trump administration. She has launched several new initiatives, including leading anti‑revenge‑porn legislation and a school‑focused artificial intelligence program.
Melania has emphasized that Barron will “always” have a room at the White House if he needs it, highlighting the family’s commitment to supporting him as he navigates school, business ventures, and the demands of being the president’s son.