No, Barron Trump Did Not Get Emancipation From Parents Donald and Melania

Despite rumors reports flying around social media, Barron Trump, the youngest son of former President Donald Trump, did not file for emancipation. The idea that the 14-year-old did was spun out of an article published on Patheos — but it was only satire. The teenager is the only child the former president shares with model Melania Trump. There were some questions about Barron’s whereabouts when he missed his father’s final speech as president on Wednesday morning. Reporters who accompanied the Trump family on their flight on Air Force One from Washington to Florida said Barron was with them though, reports PEOPLE.

Back on Jan. 17, Laughing in Disbelief author Andrew Hall published a new satirical column headlined “Barron Trump is now an Emancipated Minor.” In the column, Hall claimed Barron has “seen the evil ways of his crime family” and “he wanted to be out for years.” Hall wrote that Barron already became an emancipated minor. He even included a quote from Barron’s supposed attorney, Andrew Canard. “It was clear Donald Trump only cares about himself. I accurately predicted his narcissism with go through the roof during campaign season,” Canard said, according to Hall. “Getting the youngest Trump free from the clan’s clutches was remarkably easy.”

Hall penned that Trump and Melania did not attend the hearing and his father never replied to his court filings. “Melania’s assistant wrote something along the line of ‘I don’t really care, do you?’” Hall wrote, making a reference to the infamous jacket Melania once wore. Hall also claimed Barron had a TikTok account and Carnard was planning to help Barron write a “tell-all book about his life inside the Trump crime family.”

Nothing in the column is real. It is all satire by Hall, who pointed that out in his author bio. “Before getting to business I just want to thank you for taking some time and reading one of my posts. I appreciate it! You probably clicked a link to a story and you’re here,” Hall’s bio reads. “The story you were reading is satirical.” The column is also tagged as “satire.” Hall also gave Barron’s attorney the last name “Canard,” which is another word for a false report or story, Snopes points out.

In reality, Barron flew back to the Mar-a-Lago estate with his parents on Wednesday. Trump and Melania left before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, making him one of the few presidents not to attend his successor’s swearing-in ceremony. The family is expected to live at Mar-a-Lago for the time being, and Melania is searching for a new school for Barron to attend, sources told PEOPLE.