Barron Trump Could Take More Than Just Melania To College With Him

Going off to college is an important rite of passage for young adults, but the latest college update about Barron Trump suggests the famous teen will be taking more than just school supplies to New York in the fall. We already know that Melania Trump will likely spend the next four years in New York to be close to her only son, but several media outlets have revealed that Barron will also have Secret Service protection on campus.

Although the idea of a secret service entourage may sound a bit invasive, former agent Paul Eckloff explained the importance of this protection to The Independent: "The general threat environment that we face in the 21st century is greater than it has ever been. People's location and activities tend to be more publicly known, and social media is more reactive." Social media can pose significant dangers for famous young adults like Barron, such as when Malia Obama's arrival at Harvard caused a firestorm in 2017. Many excited fans tweeted and posted photos of the first daughter on move-in day, sharing details that could have put her at risk.

Having the Secret Service on hand will help ensure Barron can safely enjoy the college experience, especially in a densely populated (and thus potentially more dangerous) city like Manhattan. In spite of the obvious benefits, however, Secret Service protection wasn't necessarily a guarantee for Barron: The Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 only mandates this benefit until the age of sixteen for the children of former presidents. Instead, this announcement is just another example of former president Donald Trump stretching the boundaries of Secret Service protection to benefit his family.

We're all for wanting to protect your family, but there are limits to what's appropriate when it comes to using publicly funded resources. Barron Trump's college stay is a reasonable time to want extra security for the former first son, but Donald Trump once used his presidential power to expand Secret Service protections for his family in arguably less justifiable ways. Barron was just fourteen years old when his father's first presidential term ended in 2020, so it's unlikely he needed the type of individual Secret Service protection he'll have access to in college. However, Donald wasn't ready to let his other children go without this presidential benefit so soon.

In early 2021, People reported that Donald extended Secret Service protection for all four of his adult children for six months after he left office. If the cost of living like Donald Trump doesn't already seem astronomical, you may be shocked by how much this short-term protection cost American taxpayers. According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, the Secret Service kept his children (and some of his staffers) safe to the tune of $1.7M. Former Secret Service executive Jim Helminski explained why the Secret Service following the Trump kids on trips and vacations around the globe was controversial: "Even if there was a credible risk to family and associates of Trump, these people are now private citizens who can afford to hire some very talented private security firms for their personal protection." Though Barron's protection is more understandable, we can only imagine how much it will add to the Trump family's Secret Service cost when all is said and done.