Melania Trump Breaks Silence On Whether Barron Was Rejected From Harvard

There’s nothing personal about President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Harvard University, according to the White House.

Representatives for first lady Melania Trump swiftly shut down rumors that the president’s aggressive campaign against the oldest Ivy League school began after son Barron Trump’s application to the university was rejected.

“Barron did not apply to Harvard,” Nick Clemens, spokesperson for the office of the first lady, told E! News in a statement published on Wednesday. “Any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false.”

Trump’s youngest son, 19, recently wrapped up his first year at New York University, where he is enrolled in the Stern School of Business.

The president appears to have taken particular umbrage with Harvard since he embarked on his crusade to weed out diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and combat antisemitism at the nation’s top institutions, along with targeting international students critical of his administration.

After the Trump administration withdrew billions of dollars in federal grants from Harvard in April, the Department of Homeland Security subsequently attempted to revoke the prestigious university’s authority to issue visas for international students.

Hours after the administration terminated Harvard’s authority to sponsor student visas last Friday, a U.S. district judge temporarily blocked the effort, however. That order was extended on Thursday.

As Harvard held its commencement ceremony for the class of 2025 that same day, the school’s president, Alan Garber, was both trenchant and measured in his address to students.

Attendees erupted in applause as he greeted them, saying, “Members of the class of 2025, from down the street, across the country and around the world … just as it should be.”