First Lady Melania Trump and Son Barron Set to Move to White House This Summer
First Lady Melania Trump and her 11-year-old son Barron are heading to Washington, D.C., soon, the White House confirms.
A White House official confirmed to PEOPLE that President Donald Trumps wife and youngest child will move from their home at Trump Tower in New York City to the White House this summer, following their previously announced plan to allow Barron to finish out the school year before relocating.
Ahead of President Trump’s inauguration, several sources told PEOPLE that the former model, 46, was hesitant to live in the White House.
“Melania wants to stay in New York while her son goes to school,” a Palm Beach source said. “I don’t know if she will ever live away from New York full-time, especially with her son in school there. She loves her home in Manhattan and her independent life.”
Another insider told PEOPLE that the first lady will go to Washington when she can.
“Melania has spent a lot less time in Palm Beach since Barron has been in school,” the social source told PEOPLE. “She has rarely been in Palm Beach except for family holidays and charity fundraisers where she and her husband have shared the chairmanship. I see a similar pattern for her duties in Washington.”
A third social source said that “Melania is a great mother and that is her most important role.”
Critics have rebuked Melania over what they view as her failure to embrace her role as first lady, and over the price of protecting her and her son in Trump Tower, which the NYPD has said will cost between $127,000 and $146,000 per day.
More than 540,000 people have signed a recent Change.org petition demanding Melania move to the White House - or pay for the security costs at Trump Tower herself.
Melania has also been seen with her husband at the White House only a handful of times since his inauguration in January, drawing more criticism.
Most recently, she was on hand to welcome King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan to Washington earlier this month. She also tweeted on Friday that she was “Looking forward to hosting the annual Easter Egg Roll at the @WhiteHouse on Monday.”
Barron will be the first male child to live at the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1963.
On Sunday, the family reunited in Palm Beach, Florida, to attend Easter services.