Barron Trump to step into the political arena as a Florida delegate at the Republican convention
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It will soon be Barron Trump’s time to step into the political spotlight.
The youngest child of former President Donald Trump, who will graduate high school next week and has largely been kept out of the political spotlight, on Wednesday night was picked by the Republican Party of Florida as one of the state’s at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention, according to a list of delegates obtained by NBC News.
“We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members,” Florida GOP chairman Evan Power said. “Florida is continuing to have a great convention team, but more importantly we are preparing to win Florida and win it big.”
His position as a delegate will be his most high-profile political role thus far.
In a Trump family full of politically involved children, Barron has retained much more of a private life than his older brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom will also serve as Florida at-large RNC delegates, along with Trump’s daughter, Tiffany.
Barron, 18, was pulled into political headlines last month at the start of Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial related to hush money payments to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump’s attorneys argued that he should be allowed a break from trial to attend Barron’s May 17 high school graduation, something Judge Juan Merchan agreed to allow.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not return a request seeking comment.
The Trump family will have an outsized impact on Florida’s RNC delegation.
Eric Trump is the delegation’s chairman and joined Power, the Florida GOP chairman, on a phone call with party leaders Wednesday night.
Trump has won the state twice, including by more than three percentage points during his 2020 failed re-election bid, and the state party has largely lined up behind his 2024 presidential bid even before he was the formal nominee.
The party was put in a difficult position this cycle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also running for the GOP presidential nomination, but even with their home state governor in the race, Florida party officials signaled they would back Trump.
In September, party leaders voted to remove a loyalty pledge requirement that would have required GOP presidential candidates to support the eventual Republican nominee in order to be on the state’s March 19 primary ballot. The proposal was supported by Trump, but openly opposed by DeSantis’ campaign.
Beyond Trump family members, the Florida GOP approved several of the former president’s top supporters as RNC at-large delegates.
Others include Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.; Michale Boulous, the husband of Tiffany Trump; former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime Trump ally who has run pro-Trump super PACs; longtime Trump adviser Sergio Gor; prominent Trump donor and former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter; and a series of state-level Republican politicians who took the risk of endorsing Trump over DeSantis.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com