Donald and Melania Trump‘s gaudy Palace of Versailles–inspired penthouse in Trump Tower has long been seen as one of Manhattan’s most opulent (and excessive) homes. Now, however, a resurfaced video has offered a fascinating new perspective of the three-story abode and its role as a childhood home to the couple’s son, Barron.

Footage captured inside the 10,996-square-foot property in 2010, when Barron, now 18, was just 4 years old, reveals how the future president and his wife attempted to turn their gilded home into a comfortable and playful space for their son.

Although Melania and Donald moved their permanent residence to the businessman’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2019, they still own the extravagant penthouse abode in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

The dwelling served as the newly elected president’s primary residence from 1983 until 2019. It was where he was living when he and Melania began dating in 1998, six years before they wed in a Florida ceremony, and eight years before they welcomed Barron, their only child together.

Today, Barron is the only member of the family who lives in New York, where he is a freshman at New York University. He does his best to avoid the spotlight, making only a handful of public appearances during his father’s presidential campaign and largely staying out of the public eye.

However, Trump’s youngest child and his extravagant childhood abode have now become the subject of much public fascination yet again after Entertainment Tonight rereleased footage taken inside the dwelling during a shoot with Barron and his parents.
Rare video footage of Barron Trump from 2010 has surfaced from “ET.”

(ET/YouTube)

Melania and Barron Trump sit astride a stuffed animal at Trump Tower.

(ET/YouTube)

Dad Donald Trump joins Melania and Barron in the photo shoot.

(ET/YouTube)

Toy-filled Trump Tower

In a flashback to 2010, we see the young Barron in a penthouse tour with his parents. Dressed in white shorts and a matching white button-down shirt, Barron shows off clearly a favorite possession: an electric-powered toy Mercedes-Benz car, complete with the logo and a license plate that reads “BARRON.”

He’s seen in mom Melania’s office, as the glamorous former model poses in a suit and pearls with her son. Barron doesn’t seem bothered by a room full of photographers and continues to drive around in his toy car.

Photo shoot with a stuffed animal

In another scene, both mom and son have changed outfits. Melania is now dressed in a one-shoulder, pink satin baby doll dress, while Barron wears a suit, looking even more like a Donald mini-me. Barron and Melania sit astride a practically life-size stuffed animal for more photos.

At one point during the shoot with Barron and Melania, a surprise guest appears.

“That’s a lovely picture,” says Donald, who has arrived to join the photo shoot.

As Barron starts to fiddle, his father tells him from across the room to “be a good boy” and “hug mommy like you love her.” Barron does just that.

Little Barron sings softly to himself (a rendition of “Do a deer” from “The Sound of Music.”)

Donald sits for an interview, telling ET that Melania “is a great mom.”

He adds, “She’s a really loving, beautiful mom. There’s nothing more important than her son.”

He notes that he has older kids (Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Tiffany Trump).

“I almost appreciate the other children more by having Barron. It’s really quite wonderful,” he adds.

He and Melania both separately duck the question of having more kids.

“I mean, it’s always possible,” Donald says.

“I always say I have two kids. I have a big boy, Donald. And I have a little boy, Barron,” Melania jokes. “So my hands are full now.

“Life is a balancing act,” she continues, noting that her first role is “being a mommy, a wife, and then a businesswoman.”

But, she notes, “Barron still needs me. He’s only 4 years old, and I want to be there for him.”
Barron rides his stuffed lion.

(ET/YouTube)

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook Central Park.

(ET/YouTube)

Barron is allowed to ride his mini electric-powered car around the penthouse.

(ET/YouTube)

Today, Barron is a freshman at New York University. However, he has made a few rare public appearances alongside his father.

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump Tower triplex

Melania then shows off the rest of the main living area, which boasts panoramic views of midtown from floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Central Park.

The 58-unit tower also holds the headquarters of Trump Organization, and a private elevator connects the Trump offices with the triplex penthouse residence.

Melania adds that the views are “all around” and are enjoyed when they throw cocktail parties in the living room or dinner parties.

Melania then reveals that Barron holds forth on the “whole third floor” where he’s able to have his messy kid projects, which don’t muck up the neutral tones of the pristine apartment below.

Legal woes

Trump’s penthouse became the subject of legal investigation in 2022, when New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the billionaire, claiming that he had committed “numerous acts of fraud,” including inflating the value and size of several of his properties in official financial documents.

James alleged that Trump had claimed his New York City penthouse was 30,000 square feet, when records show it is actually less than 11,000 square feet. She also accused him of increasing the value of the apartment based on this inaccurate size to $327 million, slamming that estimate as “absurd.”

“Valuations of this property were calculated using objectively false numbers,” James and her team stated in legal documents. “For example, the apartment was valued as being 30,000 square feet when it was actually 10,996 square feet. As a result, in 2015, the apartment was valued at $327 million in total, or $29,738 per square foot.

“That price was absurd given the fact that at that point only one apartment in New York City had ever sold for even $100 million, at a price per square foot of less than $10,000, and that sale was in a newly built, ultra-tall tower. In the 30-year-old Trump Tower, the record sale at that time was a mere $16.5 million at a price of less than $4,500 per square foot.”

Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024 and ordered to pay more than $350 million. He was also banned from conducting business in New York for three years.