Donald Trump was photographed Friday morning at his youngest son Barron’s graduation in West Palm Beach, Florida, standing next to his wife Melania in the front row of bleachers at Oxbridge Academy’s football field.
The elder Trump reportedly arrived just two minutes before the private commencement began, exiting a motorcade and entering the football field’s aluminum stands through a heavily guarded entrance.
Trump was wearing a dark suit, white dress shirt, and blue tie, with Oxbridge parents, loved ones, and soon-to-be graduates giving him a round of applause, the Daily Mail reported. Photos showed two Secret Service agents, wearing suits and sunglasses, standing behind Trump. Viktor Knavs, Melania’s dad, was also spotted in attendance beside his daughter.
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Donald Trump arrives at Barron’s graduation with Secret Service agents in tow.
Marco Bello/ReutersTrump was permitted to have Friday off from court in his New York City hush-money trial so he could attend. Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, to announce his attendance just before his arrival.
“Going to Barron’s High School Graduation,” he wrote. “Great student, wonderful boy! Very exciting!!! DJT.”
Barron crosses the stage during his commencement ceremony.
Reuters/Marco BelloPhotos showed the 6-foot-7-inch Barron accepting his diploma on stage, towering over the school officials who ran the commencement. He wore a blue gown and tie, with a red stole draped around his shoulders.
The commencement was by invitation only, with the school—which charges a whopping $41,500 a year in tuition—asking journalists and onlookers unaffiliated with the graduating class to steer clear of the ceremony.
Donald Trump waves in the direction of graduates at Oxbridge Academy.
Getty Images/Giorgio VieraTrump, who was photographed laughing as he waved in the direction of Barron during the ceremony, isn’t expected to be celebrating late into Friday evening—or even into the afternoon—with his son. Instead, he’ll have to hop on a plane to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he’s slated to headline a 5 p.m. fundraising dinner. With flight times from South Florida to the Twin Cities taking approximately four hours on commercial airliners, and with a single-hour time difference, Trump needs to be airborne by 2 p.m. at the latest if he doesn’t want to arrive late to the dinner.
It’s unclear what sort of post-graduation celebrations, if any, Trump attended for Barron.
Donald Trump attends his son Barron’s high school graduation along with his wife, Melania, and her father.
Reuters/Marco BelloBarron’s graduation was the first time Melania had been spotted alongside her husband since his trial revealed nitty-gritty details about his alleged one-night stand with Stormy Daniels, said to have taken place in their first year of marriage. In photos from the ceremony, she appeared largely stoic, as she often does, but was also seen smiling and clapping.
Barron was one of 116 seniors who graduated Friday. Last year, the school sent students to attend some of the country’s most prestigious universities, including Northwestern, UCLA, Boston University, Cornell, and Vanderbilt.
It remains unclear where Barron is headed next, but his family has indicated he’s college bound. Potential schools for Barron include the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where his dad and half-siblings attended, or possibly New York University, down the road from his childhood home atop Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The only recent hint about Barron’s next steps came from Donald Trump. Last week, he revealed that Barron is looking at some new college possibilities and shared that his son has an interest in politics.
“Right now, he’s doing a great job,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago last week, as reported in Newsweek. “He has great marks. He’s going to be going to college soon. And we’re looking at some colleges that are different than they were two months ago.”
