President-elect Donald Trump will move into the White House in January after he takes the oath of office, but he will have to wait until the end of the school year for his wife Melania and 10-year-old son Barron to join him. Melania has chosen to stay in New York temporarily to allow Barron to finish out the year at his private elementary school.
Via CNN:
During a photo op at his Bedminster Golf Club as he was saying goodbye to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Trump said yes when asked if he intended to live in the White House. Then when asked if Melania and Barron would move to Washington, he said “very soon. Right after he finishes school.”
The New York Post on Sunday first reported the news that the mother and son would not immediately move to Washington:
The president-elect’s 46-year-old wife and their 10-year-old son are staying put at the family’s glitzy Trump Tower penthouse so that Barron can continue attending his Upper West Side private school, sources told The Post.
“Melania is extremely close to Barron, and they have become closer during the campaign,” said a source close to Trump’s transition team. “The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and she is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum.”
Another source said Melania Trump will travel to the White House as needed, but that her primary focus is on Barron.
“Melania is very supportive of her husband and is fully on board of doing everything that’s needed as first lady,” said the second source familiar with the Trump transition.
Her decision to remain in New York will mean a sharp increase in the security presence around Trump Tower, a security expert told the Post.
“That building is going to become the White House of New York,” said Jim Reese, a former Delta Force commander and president of TigerSwan, a global security company based in North Carolina.
“The Secret Service is going to have to keep that whole area cordoned off so that some wacko can’t get close and detonate a car bomb.”
Transition spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement:
The Trump family is energized and excited about their new role serving the country, and specifically the President-elect’s task at hand of helping to move our country forward. No official statement has been released by the Trump family regarding transition timing, but like any parents they are concerned about pulling their 10-year-old son out of school in the middle of the year. We would also appreciate the same privacy and security considerations given to previous First Families with regard to minor children be extended to the Trumps as well.
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