During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump raised a lot of eyebrows by going on so-called “bro” podcasts. Those appearances connected him with a lot of young, Gen Z male voters who were more sympathetic to the MAGA movement than their female peers. He would also turn up at football games and other sporting events. These ideas, it turns out, may have been suggested by Trump’s son, Barron Trump.
In an appearance on the PBD Podcast, Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara shared just how influential the young Trump ended up being to the campaign as a whole. She said Barron, 18, deserves “serious credit” for his part in getting his father back in the White House.
“Barron Trump is so cool. He’s like the sleeper a little bit. He’s kind of stayed out of the spotlight, probably intentionally,” she said. She then shared an anecdote about how the family would be traveling for the campaign and Barron would call and say “‘Dad, I have an idea of how you can get more votes,’ and it’ll be, you know, ‘you need to go to this baseball stadium’ or whatever.”
The older Trump would listen to his son, Lara said, and Barron would have final say on what podcast his father appeared on. Trump appeared on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, made an appearance with pranksters the NELK Boys, appeared on Logan Paul’s Impulsive podcast and near the end of the campaign, he stopped by The Joe Rogan Experience, reaching around 40 million people.
Barron’s contributions to the campaign were ratings bonanzas, per Trump senior adviser Jason Miller.
“Barron has been very involved in selecting or recommending, I should say, a number of the podcasts that we should do,” Miller said on Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast. “I got to tell you, hats off to the young man. Every single recommendation he’s had has turned out to be absolute ratings gold that’s broken the internet. He’s done a great job.”
Barron’s mother, Melania Trump, also credits her son with helping his father win reelection. In an interview with Fox & Friends, her first since the election, Melania said Barron was “very vocal” about guiding his father’s campaign.
“He knew exactly who his father needs to contact and to talk to.” She said he knew people his age weren’t watching TV, they were getting news and information from podcasts and streamers on YouTube. His ideas “brought in so many young people — he knows his generation,” she said.
That winningness has reportedly bled into his personal life, as he’s been hailed as a “ladies man” by his classmates at New York University. Melania acknowledged that Barron will probably never get to be an ordinary student at the University. She said her advice to him was to remember that, “This is your road,” and “this is your life.”
Barron travels with a security detail, something that’s surely going to stand out if he attends in-person Freshman classes. Regardless, the young man has a bright future ahead of him, especially with the ear of the President only a phone call away.