A college student has found herself caught in political crossfire.
New York University’s College Republicans club president Kaya J. Walker has resigned from her post amid backlash over a recent comment she made about President Donald J. Trump’s youngest son Barron Trump and his life as a college student at the school.
“He’s sort of like an oddity on campus,” Kaya told Vanity Fair in a profile on Barron published Feb. 12. “He goes to class, he goes home.”
Now, in a letter to the chairman of the New York Federation of College Republicans, Kaya shared her side of the story, claiming her comment addressed the obsession that has developed around Barron on campus rather than describing the 18-year-old himself.
“My comment to Vanity Fair has been ridiculously misconstrued to suggest that I found Barron Trump's commuter status to be unusual when in reality the majority of NYU's student body-including myself-are commuters,” Kaya wrote in her letter, which was shared by the NYU College Republicans chapter. “The ‘oddity’ I talked about lies in the unhealthy fascination that people have with a teenager just minding his business by going to college and not at all in Barron Trump himself.”
The college senior went on to note she did not know Barron—whose mom is First Lady Melania Trump—nor has she seen him on campus, instead calling out “the ugly side of our culture on campus and worldwide that delights in forming parasocial relationships with celebrities.”
She further referenced NYU graduates Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse, comparing the ways the Suite Life alums were followed on campus to the way photos of Barron are being circulated by his fellow students on social media.
Kaya—who has been involved with the campus organization since her freshman year—also described the ways she’s helped build up the club during her tenure, noting how the club became an outlet after never having “anyone who shared my beliefs growing up in New York City.”
However, after saying she had to “consider the health of our organization,” she asked that the New York Federation of College Republicans chairman “kindly accept” her resignation as President.
“I do not apologize for trying to denounce the campus hysteria,” she wrote, “but I do apologize to everyone that I love and respect that was caught in the crosshairs of this willful and malicious misreading of my comment.”
E! News has reached out to reps for Barron as well as to Kaya for comment but has not yet heard back.
And amid her resignation, her club is standing behind her.
In sharing the letter to social media, the NYU College Republicans chapter wrote, “Kaya is a lovely person and has been our fearless leader for years now. It was not members from our chapter who forced her to resign.”
For more on Barron and the Trump family tree, keep reading.
Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump was the first wife of President-elect Donald Trump. Born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia—now Zlín of the Czech Republic—in 1949, she rose to fame as a competitive skier. And, thanks to her marriage to Austrian ski instructor Alfred Winklmayr in 1971, Ivana was able to travel often outside of Czechoslovakia.
According to her book Raising Trump, the model met Donald three years after her 1973 divorce during a New York trip, where she'd traveled for a Canadian fashion show ahead of the Montreal Olympics. They wed in 1977 and welcomed three kids: Donald Trump Jr. born in 1977, Ivanka Trump born in 1981 and Eric Trump born in 1984.
The pair's divorce was finalized in 1992 following his affair with Marla Maples, whom he later married.
However, Ivana—who then married Riccardo Mazzucchelli for two years followed by Rossano Rubicondi for less than a year—and Donald remained on good terms.
“Donald during the divorce was brutal,” she told ABC News in 2017. “He took the divorce as a business deal, and he cannot lose. He has to win. So he took about two years. And after the final situation was straightened up, we would just talk and we are friends.”
Ivana died in 2022 at age 73. According to NBC News, the New York City Medical Examiner said she died of “blunt impact injuries” and that her manner of death was an accident. A senior NYC official with direct knowledge added the circumstances were consistent with a fall on the stairs in her New York apartment.
Donald Trump Jr.
In 1977, Ivana and Donald welcomed their eldest son Donald Trump Jr. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 2000 and began working for his father’s company The Trump Organization in 2001, where he now serves as the executive vice president.
Don Jr. is also a director for both Trump Media & Technology Group Corp and PublicSquare Holdings and part of 1789 Capital firm. In addition, he's been involved in his dad’s political campaigns, including speaking at rallies and the Republican National Convention during his father's presidential runs.
Don Jr. shares five children with his ex-wife, model Vanessa Haydon: Kai (who also made a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention) Donald III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe.
Don Jr. was previously engaged to Fox News alum Kimberly Guilfoyle. However, he recently confirmed their split.
"Kimberly and I will never stop caring for each other," he told Page Six Dec. 13, "and will always keep a special bond."
Don Jr. has since been linked to socialite Bettina Anderson. As for Vanessa, she is dating Tiger Woods.
Ivanka Trump
Four years after the arrival of Don Jr., Donald and Ivana became parents to daughter Ivanka Trump.
Before her father’s presidency, the University of Pennsylvania alum worked at The Trump Organization. But after he was elected in 2016, the fashion brand founder—who had her own eponymous line—took on the role of Advisor to the President.
After her dad announced he would be running for president again in 2024, Ivanka revealed she would be stepping out of the political arena to focus on her family with husband, former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, and their children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore.
“I love my father very much,” she said in part of a 2022 statement obtained by NBC News. “This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”
Eric Trump
Born in 1984, Eric Trump is the third child of Ivana and Donald. He graduated with a degree in finance and management from Georgetown University.
Like his brother, Eric works as executive vice president of The Trump Organization, which he joined in 2007. He is also president of Trump Winery.
Eric is married to Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, with whom he shares kids Luke and Carolina.
Marla Maples
Marla Maples is Donald’s second wife, whom he met while still married to Ivana.
In Raising Trump, Ivana wrote the actress approached her about the affair during a trip to Aspen in 1989. Still, Marla said on a 2018 episode of the ABC podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris that she “never considered” herself a mistress.
"My intention was to never bring hurt," she continued. "Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after his divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. I mean, with all my heart. How much heartache would it have saved so many people if I had seen that piece of paper before we got involved? But it didn't happen that way."
Marla and Donald welcomed daughter Tiffany Trump in 1993, and the couple wed later that year. However, the Dancing With the Stars alum and the 47th commander in chief announced their separation four years later and finalized their divorce in 1999.
Tiffany Trump
After her parents’ breakup, Tiffany Trump relocated with her mother to California.
"She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all that pressure,” Tiffany told People in 2016. “So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that.”
She released her 2011 single “Like a Bird" and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a B.A. in sociology, focusing on law and society. She then went to Georgetown Law School, where she graduated with a JD in 2020.
In 2022, Tiffany wed Michael Boulos. Her father announced they're expecting their first baby during an October 2024 speech at the Detroit Economic Club. "She’s an exceptional young woman," he said during his remarks. "And she’s going to have a baby. So that’s nice.”
The little one made his debut on May 15, 2025.
"Welcome to the world our sweet baby boy, Alexander Trump Boulos," Tiffany wrote on X on his birthday. "We love you beyond words! Thank you for coming into our lives!"
Melania Trump
Melania Trump is Donald’s third wife and current First Lady of the United States. Born in Mesto, Slovenia in 1970, she is the second First Lady to be born outside of the U.S. and the only First Lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Melania met Donald in New York in 1996 while she was working as a model.
“It was a big fashion party that my friend organized, fashion week, and he invited me,” she recalled on a 2016 episode of On the Record With Greta Van Susteren. “That’s how we met with Donald.”
Melania and Donald married in 2005, and they welcomed son Barron Trump the following year.
In 2024, she released her memoir Melania and she's set to appear in a documentary. Melania has also spoken about where she will spend her time during her husband's second presidency.
"I will be in the White House," she told Fox & Friends in an interview that aired Jan. 13. "When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we're in on January 20, you serve the country."
Barron Trump
Born in 2006, Barron Trump is Donald and Melania’s only child. While he has lived a more private life—relocating with his parents from New York to live in Washington, D.C. and then Florida—it looked like he might enter the political world after he was selected in May 2024 as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention. However, Barron declined the offer.
"While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party,” a statement from Melania’s office shared with NBC News at the time said, “he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.”
Like studying, perhaps, with Barron starting his freshman year at New York University in 2024. "He was accepted to a lot of colleges," his father told the Daily Mail in an interview published Sept. 4. "He's a very smart guy, and he'll be going to Stern, the business school, which is a great school at NYU."
However, Melania told Fox & Friends in her interview that Barron will come and visit his family at the White House, and he was there for his father's inauguration ceremony in January 2025.