The Republican president elect has suggested that he'd like to continue living in his New York penthouse. Now, his wife and his youngest child aren't planning to move at all in the near future.
"Melania is extremely close to Barron, and they have become closer during the campaign," a source close to Trump’s transition team told the New York Post. "The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and she is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum."
Melania will travel to the White House as needed, a second source said. "Melania is very supportive of her husband and is fully on board of doing everything that’s needed as first lady."
Trump will be inaugurated as US president January 20.
Ten-year-old Barron and his mother will remain in New York at least until the boy finishes school, Trump said during a photo op November 20. He said Melania and Barron would move to the White House "very soon. Right after he finishes school," CNN reports.
Barron Trump attends a school in New York City that reportedly costs more than $40,000 per year.
"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," transition spokesman Jason Miller said the same day. "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.” The Trumps requested the same privacy and security considerations given to all First Families with minor children, he said.
The president-elect has been discussing with his advisers just how many nights a week he has to spend in the White House, the New York Times reported. During the campaign, Trump frequently opted to fly home to Manhattan between appearances, and would apparently like to continue to call Trump Towers home as often as possible.
The decision would mean a long-term collaboration between the US Secret Service and the New York Police Department to protect Trump Tower.
"That building is going to become the White House of New York," Jim Reese, a former Delta Force commander and president of a global security company, told the New York Post.
"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."
Security measures have already created hellish traffic jams around the tower, and it was announced November 18 that lane closures on Fifth Avenue around the tower will remain in place. Truck traffic will remain restricted during the transition period at least, as will policies to conduct bag checks on some pedestrians.
The Secret Service and the NYPD have tried to develop a plan that strikes "a proper balance" between protecting the Trump family’s safety and addressing the needs of pedestrians and businesses, DNA info reported. Businesses are already reporting that the security measures are hurting foot traffic to their establishments.
