Free Republic

Barron Trump turns 15 today. Son of President Donald Trump and Melania Trump, the teenager has spent the past few years growing up in front of the nation’s eyes — literally. He now towers over his 6-foot-3 father and 5-foot-11 mother. Since Barron was just an infant, he’s been subjected to a life in the spotlight. Now that Donald Trump is no longer president, though, the teen has been able to avoid the public eye much more than in the previous four years of his life. Before that, though, we were able to see just how much he’s grown into...

The liberal media had been trying to make a lot of hay out of accusations that the Trump family had tried to sell access to themselves and their president-elect father. So far such concerns seem to have little merit since all of the instances pointed to by accusers have not actually happened. But that didn’t stop it from being a topic of conversation on CNN’s OutFront on Wednesday. “This has been a stumbling block for the Trumps,” argued fill in host Poppy Harlow, after a long winded report about the accusations was aired, “Why even open yourself up to this...

...This speech introduced no new outrages, and voters are starting to get used to the old ones. So on a strategic level, it was a strong performance. If Trump does more of this, and adds no new outrages, he’ll glide to a comfortable victory. Persuasion-wise, Trump’s family was the big story of the convention. People seem to love them in the same way the public loved the Kennedys. And notice how Donald Jr. and Eric both have the speaking cadence of John and Jack Kennedy. Notice also how Melania reminds you of Jackie Kennedy – quiet, smart, and classy. These...

...Ivanka was also heavily involved when Trump finally decided to oust his trusted campaign manager Corey Lewandowski earlier this year. Trump had been fiercely loyal to his aide throughout the campaign — even standing by Lewandowski when the latter was charged with battery for violently grabbing a reporter from Breitbart News. To many observers, it looked like Lewandowski would be a permanent fixture on the campaign no matter what he did. Until, that is, he made an enemy of Ivanka....

...It is striking that Trump was introduced not by a politician, or a business titan, not a religious leader or his wife, but by the person he is potentially closest to in the world. When asked who his closest advisers are, Trump always puts Ivanka’s name at the top of his list. Ivanka herself told the New York Times that when they are apart they speak on the phone five times or more a day....

CLEVELAND — “Tiffany! Tiffany!” a middle-aged Republican delegate yelled to Donald J. Trump’s 22-year-old daughter on the floor of the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. “You were amazing last night,” he said of her speech. She smiled, cocked her head gratefully and thanked him. On the streets outside the convention, a young woman approached Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s 34-year-old daughter, to ask for a selfie with her, which she instantly posted on Instagram. “Week. Just. Made,” the woman enthused in a caption under the photograph.

What I’m starting to sniff in the zeitgeist today is that Trump’s kids are totally changing what people think of the father. People are making the semi-rational assumption that anyone who can raise such good kids must be very different in private than he is on the campaign trail... A large number of voters – I’m guessing about 20% of the public – want to support Trump but find it impossible because of the way he has so far presented himself. His brand is too toxic. So people lay low and wait for a “fake because” so they can throw...

Lewandowski's ouster was the result of a coup led by Trump's children Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr., according to the staffer. And his abrupt dismissal culminates one of the most dramatic story lines of the 2016 campaign.

Days before a critical Indiana primary that could sew up the presidential nomination for the “presumptive” Republican party nominee, the candidate’s eldest son, who is also his current campaign surrogate and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, isn’t interested in talking politics at all..... If all of these Trump business traits—passion, hard work, getting your hands dirty—sound distinctly similar to many of the themes Donald Sr. is hammering home on the Republican campaign trail it’s because they’ve run in the family for decades—and Don Jr. isn’t shy about telling voters as much. Presidential campaigns have a habit of throwing...