President Donald Trump has continued to push for another four years in the White House with unfounded claims of election fraud and has refused to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. But his wife is looking ahead to a future in Florida.
People reported Melania Trump has been searching southern Florida for a new school for their son, Barron. According to Page Six, Mrs. Trump most recently toured the exclusive Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, which is located about 40 minutes south of the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
It’s unclear where Pine Crest falls on the First Lady’s list of choices for her son’s education. A spokesperson for the school would not confirm Melania Trump’s reported visit, telling Boca News Now that “Pine Crest School does not disclose personal family information related to any stage of our Admission process, including the identity of families who inquire, apply, or enroll.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Pine Crest Requires Parents Submit Personal & Business Tax Returns
Trump never released his personal tax returns. As a candidate, he claimed his taxes were under audit and he never released them after being sworn in as president. There is an ongoing case in federal court in New York over whether Trump’s accounting firm could be ordered to surrender financial information to prosecutors, as CNBC reported. (The New York Times reported in late September that it had obtained more than 20 years of Trump’s tax returns; the newspaper reported Trump did not pay income tax for 10 years because of huge financial losses).
But as all of this continues to play out, another entity may request access to Trump’s tax information: his son’s new school. If Melania Trump chooses to enroll Barron in Pine Crest, they may be asked to submit financial records.
Pine Crest explains on its website that once a new student has applied and been enrolled in the school, guardians are asked to submit a “parent financial statement.” The documentation the school asks for includes W-2 statements, 1040 personal tax returns and business tax returns. The school website does not explain how this information is used.
Tuition at Pine Crest Is More Than $35,000 Per Year for High Schoolers
GettyFirst lady Melania Trump (L) looks at her son Barron Trump after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House August 27, 2020.
An education at Pine Crest does not come cheap. Barron Trump is currently in 9th grade and tuition for high school students is more than $35,000 per year. According to the school’s website, middle school costs more than $32,000 per year. Parents of elementary school students pay $29,530 per year. Kindergarten tuition is $27,600 and pre-kindergarten costs $23,960.
The tuition covers daily lunch, textbooks, Student Accident Insurance, school supplies, class trips, the yearbook and Parents’ Association membership fees, according to the Pine Crest website.
Pine Crest was established in 1934 and operates two campuses. The Boca Raton campus offers pre-k through eighth grade, meaning Barron Trump would attend high school at the Fort Lauderdale campus. The school has about 2,600 students across both campuses. Barron Trump currently attends St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland.
The Trumps Designated Palm Beach as Their Primary Residence in 2019 & Have Been Renovating the Private Residence at Mar-a-Lago
GettyPresident Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and their son Barron Trump take a stroll.
It has long been known that the Trumps would move to Florida after leaving the White House, whether it was after four years or eight. Both Donald and Melania Trump legally changed their primary residence from New York City to Palm Beach in 2019.
The New York Times reported on October 31, 2019, that the couple had submitted paperwork to the Palm Beach County Circuit Court to designate Mar-a-Lago as their permanent address. The president confirmed the report with a series of tweets and suggested the decision to leave New York was based on politics. Trump wrote that he had been “treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state” even though, in his words, he had paid “millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year.” He added, “As President, I will always be there to help New York and the great people of New York. It will always have a special place in my heart!”
The Trump family has been preparing for the move to Mar-a-Lago by completing a renovation project at their private home at the resort. Vanity Fair, citing a “Republican close to the White House,” reported that the Trumps didn’t go to Mar-a-Lago at Thanksgiving due to the ongoing construction. “He wants to make it more comfortable as a full-time residence. It’s actually not that big,” the source told Vanity Fair.
According to People, Trump’s private apartment at Mar-a-Lago is about 2,000-square-feet and the renovations have included an expansion. The magazine also cited a club member who said even though Palm Beach will become the Trumps’ home base, the family will likely continue to travel to various residences on a regular basis. “He wouldn’t want to be in Palm Beach in the dead of summer, but he doesn’t have to be so it can work out well.” The magazine cited another club member who added, “No matter what else is happening in the world, he is treated like royalty at Mar-a-Lago. He loves to be here.”
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