Something unexpected happened during Trump’s presidential campaign: his two youngest children, both unplanned and neither initially welcomed with enthusiasm, became critical to his political career. Despite having five children from three marriages, he never imagined that 31-year-old Tiffany and 18-year-old Barron would be more instrumental in his return to the White House than his three older children—Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. The three had been deeply involved in his 2016 campaign and first term, yet in 2024, they were almost irrelevant. This time, it was the moment for the family’s 'black sheep'. Once in a while, while riding in his limousine or private jet, Barron would call Trump and give him helpful strategic advice. "There have been many times I've been traveling in the course of the campaign with my father-in-law in the car going to places", said Lara Trump, Eric’s wife and one of Trump’s closest confidantes. “And Barron would call and say, 'Dad, I've an idea as to how you can get more votes. You need to go to this football stadium or appear on that podcast', or whatever it was. He was always throwing ideas, focusing on young voters. We have to give Barron some serious credit.” Barron's mother, Melania Trump, said after the election that he deliberately stayed out of the spotlight, but he makes everyone else look small. He’s smart, very funny, and is going to do amazing things. “He was very vocal” in giving advice to his father on what media appearances to make in order to gain a more favorable shift among younger people. He knew exactly who his father needs to contact and to talk to,” Melania said, "He knows his generation, because nowadays the young generation, they don’t sit in front of the TV anymore,” Melania said. "They rely on podcasts, social media, and live streamers to get information. As a result, Barron brought in so many young people”, she added. Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv >> This isn’t just the usual Trump family exaggeration. According to election night polling, there was a sharp shift rightward among Generation Z, particularly among young men, and especially young white men. Vice President Kamala Harris still won more than half of the votes from this generation, which came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic, but her share was significantly lower than what Democratic candidates typically receive from young voters. Trump, an aging 78-year-old who may or may not know how to send emails, and whose last known favorite song is Y.M.C.A. by the Village People, ran a campaign that was more relevant to young voters than Harris, a 60-year-old who aligns herself with Beyoncé. And much of that, it turns out, was thanks to Barron. Tiffany Trump’s influence was more indirect but still highly significant, she simply married someone whose father knew exactly what Trump needed to win Michigan, the critical swing state. Tiffany's husband, Michael Boulos, is the son of Lebanese-born billionaire Massad Boulos, who now serves as a special adviser to Trump on Middle East affairs. The chemistry between Trump and Boulos Sr. was immediate, ever since Tiffany first introduced her boyfriend, who is four years younger than her. During the campaign, Boulos Sr. became an influential figure in Trump’s inner circle. Most notably, he worked tirelessly in Michigan, spending time in Muslim communities and helping to persuade them, at the very least, not to vote for Harris, whom he accused of committing “genocide in Gaza”, while making vague promises that Trump would help the Palestinians. When Trump secured a victory in Michigan, with a significant portion of the state’s Muslim population voting for him, Boulos got all the credit. On election night, Tiffany and Barron stood onstage at Mar-a-Lago, facing a crowd of cheering supporters. They had both been there also when Trump won the election in 2016, but back then, Barron was a silent ten-year-old, and Tiffany was the daughter Trump rarely mentioned. Eight years later, they had helped him orchestrate what is being hailed as the greatest political comeback in American history. The story feels like a plotline from Succession, but now the question is, what does it mean for their future? Tiffany’s transformation: the jabs, the revenge, and the rise in her status During Donald Trump’s first term, the White House operated like a revolving door, with staff coming and going at an unprecedented pace. Few departures were as memorable as that of Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted just 11 days as White House communications director. Most firings stemmed from Trump’s insistence on absolute loyalty if you strayed even slightly from his line, you were out. But the dismissal of Madeleine Westerhout, a name largely unknown outside Trump’s inner circle, was different. It was a scandal even by Trump-world standards. Westerhout had been a loyal Trump aide since 2015, back when his candidacy seemed too implausible to even be a punchline. Once in the White House, she held a critical position as a key gatekeeper to the Oval Office, screening Trump's official calls and controlling the access of outside advisers. “Madeleine is the key. She's the secret,” Trump once said. So when she was abruptly fired, there had to be a serious reason. It turned out that two weeks before her dismissal, Westerhout had been drinking with reporters at a bar and had a little too much. She opened up to the reporters that she had a better relationship with Trump than his own daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany. "Trump couldn’t pick Tiffany out of a crowd", she said, adding that "the President did not like being in pictures with Tiffany because he perceived her as overweight." Westerhout was fired, not personally by Trump, who prefers to have others do his dirty work, but by his aides, who correctly saw that drunkenly gossiping with journalists was unacceptable for someone who had access to the president’s every move. But it’s doubtful Trump himself was particularly offended by her remarks about Tiffany. After all, at his wedding to Melania, he had assigned Tiffany the task of handing out the ceremony programs to guests. Tiffany was born in October 1993, at the height of Trump’s affair with model-actress Marla Maples. The romance had started while he was still married to Ivana, the mother of his three eldest children. Trump did cut Tiffany’s umbilical cord, which already made her more special than Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric, or Barron, none of whom he had bothered to show up for at birth. Twenty minutes after she was born, he was on the phone with The New York Times, announcing his newborn daughter, whom he planned to name after the jewelry store located beneath Trump Tower. Trump’s marriage to Maples lasted four years. When they divorced, Maples took Tiffany to California, raising her alone in a Los Angeles suburb. Trump paid child support and covered her tuition, but Tiffany’s relationship with her half-siblings -Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka - was distant. “Her father wasn’t able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent", Maples told PEOPLE. "He loves his kids. There’s no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation. As far as time, it was just me, but it was important for me that Tiffany would form her own relationship with him." Trump never wanted a child with Maples, and for much of Tiffany’s life, he made sure she knew it. In one interview, she admitted, “It will be … a chance to be Tiffany, not just ‘Tiffany Trump.'” Just a month before the 2016 election, Trump sat for an interview with Melania and his four eldest children. Tiffany spoke only once during the entire interview, visibly searching for a way out the rest of the time. On election night in 2016, Trump took the stage and said, "I'm very proud of my children. I mean, I'm just looking at them right now as an example... but I'm very proud 'cause Don and Eric and Ivanka and, you know, to a lesser extent 'cause she just got out of school, out of college, but, uh, Tiffany, who's also been so terrific." On Trump's inauguration night in January 2017, Tiffany stayed at a Washington hotel, while her siblings stayed at the White House. But she got a small moment of revenge in one of her rare public appearances alongside the family. When Trump was looking to get a kiss from her, she very visibly dodged him. The clip went viral. On election night in 2016, Trump referred to Tiffany: "I'm very proud of my children. I mean, I'm just looking at them right now as an example... but I'm very proud 'cause Don and Eric and Ivanka and, you know, to a lesser extent 'cause she just got out of school, out of college, but, uh, Tiffany, who's also been so terrific." Whether by coincidence or not, Trump’s attitude toward Tiffany started to shift around the time she began dating Michael Boulos, whom she met in 2018 at a Mykonos club owned by Lindsay Lohan. Boulos was born in Houston, but when he was young his family moved to Nigeria, where his father, Dr. Massad Boulos, founded a conglomerate across West Africa. Boulos Jr. attended an American school in Lagos and became a celebrity in Nigeria, a country Trump infamously referred to in 2018 as a “shithole.” When asked about the remark, sources close to Tiffany told PEOPLE, “Tiffany’s not keeping her finger on the pulse of that BS". Almost everything about Boulos’ background seemed like it would trigger someone who is as racist as Trump. But as always, Trump made exceptions when it suited him. He had long done business with wealthy Arab investors and enjoyed rubbing shoulders with them. The entire Trump family has close ties to Saudi royals and Gulf billionaires. Boulos came from money - the ultimate Trumpian prerequisite. Boulos gifted Tiffany a $600,000 bracelet, which greatly impressed Trump. After meeting the father Massad Boulos, Trump fully embraced the match. Tiffany announced her engagement to Boulos on January 19, 2021, the day before Trump left the White House. In the Rose Garden, Boulos slipped a $1.2 million ring on her finger, and Tiffany posted beautiful pictures on Instagram. Trump, notably, stopped mocking her in public, and two years ago he hosted a lavish wedding for her at Mar-a-Lago. Her new standing within the family likely won’t change her preference for staying out of the spotlight, but she can now walk into Trump family gatherings with far more confidence. Tiffany and Boulos live in Miami, not far from Ivanka and Jared Kushner, Donald Jr. and his ever-changing partner, and, of course, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Last October, Trump proudly announced that Tiffany was expecting her first child - his 11th grandchild. She’s no longer the black sheep. Barron stayed in the shadows but brought in the youth vote Like Tiffany, Barron was not a child Trump had planned. Melania once recalled breaking the news to her husband: "He came home, and I told him he'd be a daddy, and his reaction was...at first he needed to take it in. It was a real surprise. And then he was very happy." Barron was just a few months old when Trump famously spent several nights in the company of adult film star Stormy Daniels. On the other hand, at least he got to choose his son’s name. Children of U.S. presidents don’t choose the spotlight, and American media traditionally respects their privacy, especially while they are under 18. When Trump entered the White House, four of his five children were already adults, but Barron was just ten, and his early years there were difficult. Katie Rich, a writer for Saturday Night Live, posted a tasteless tweet that "Barron will be this country's first homeschool shooter." Comedian Rosie O’Donnell, whose own daughter is on the autism spectrum, tweeted: “Barron Trump Autistic? If so - what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the Autism epidemic.” The tweet included an edited video that suggested Barron was autistic. The backlash was swift and justified. Melania Trump threatened to sue YouTube, and the video was removed. Barron received unexpected support from Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary, who had faced similar treatment from the right-wing media in the 1990s when she was just 12. "It's high time the media and everyone leave Barron Trump alone and let him have the private childhood he deserves." Speculation about Barron being on the autism spectrum stemmed largely from photos of him as a solemn-faced child who rarely smiled and often appeared disengaged. Melania dismissed the rumors outright: "He is a very strong-minded, very special, smart boy. He is independent and opinionated and knows exactly what he wants. Sometimes, I call him Little Donald. He is a mixture of us in looks, but his personality is why I call him little Donald." From what little is known about his childhood, he loved playing with cars and helicopters, enjoyed soccer when he went outside, and was highly skilled with computers. Eight years after being mocked by liberal corners of the internet, Barron is getting his quiet revenge. He still avoids the spotlight, doesn’t give interviews, and rarely speaks in public, but his presence on social media is significant. In one of his rallies, Trump said to Barron: “You’re pretty popular, he might be more popular than Don and Eric. So Barron, it’s good to have you. Barron, had such a nice, easy life. Now, it’s a little bit changed." Now a freshman at New York University’s prestigious Stern School of Business, Barron spends his days on campus before returning to his “dorm” - an entire floor at the Trump Tower penthouse on Fifth Avenue. He also has a designated room at the White House, should he choose to visit, though that seems unlikely to happen often. "I feel as children, we have them till they are 18, 19 years old. We teach them, we guide them, and then we give them the wings to fly," Melania said. "I always respect Barron’s yes and no, and what he likes to do, where he would like to be." "It was his decision to come here, that he wants to be in New York and study in New York and live in his home. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be. His strength. His intelligence. His knowledge, his kindness. It's admirable." Last summer, Barron made his first-ever appearance at one of his father’s rallies. From the stage, Trump turned to him and said: “You’re pretty popular, he might be more popular than Don and Eric. So Barron, it’s good to have you. Welcome to the scene, Barron, I don’t know,” Trump said. “He had such a nice, easy life. Now, it’s a little bit changed." And indeed, it has changed. Barron, towering at 6-foot-8, walks the NYU campus accompanied by Secret Service agents, drawing attention wherever he goes. According to sources at the university who spoke to PEOPLE, dating hasn’t been an issue for him: "He’s really popular with the ladies. Even liberal people like him." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Telegram