Did Harvard reject Barron Trump? Melania Trump reacts to conspiracy theory amid Trump-Harvard row

Amid US President Donald Trump's standoff with Harvard University, there was a controversy making rounds on social media, with theories claiming that Trump's son Barron Trump was not accepted to the school.

Nicholas Clemens, the first lady’s communications director dismissed the claims, calling it "completely false".

"Barron did not apply to Harvard and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false," she said.

19-year-old Barron's college admission status has been the subject of social media theories.

This comes amid Trump is targeting Harvard with federal funding cuts and demanding to know more about its international student population.

Moreover, the Trump administration is asking all federal agencies to find ways to terminate all federal contracts with Harvard.

While Harvard has already sued in federal court seeking the restoration of about $3.2 billion in federal grant funding frozen by the administration since last month.

Earlier on Monday, Trump accused Harvard of being "very antisemitic" and said he was considering giving the school’s federal funding to trade schools "all across our land."

"What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!" he wrote.

Trump went on to demand more transparency from the university. “Nobody told us that! We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries,” he said.

Harvard currently has 6,793 international students for the 2024–2025 academic year, making up 27.2% of its student body, according to university figures.

Neither Harvard nor the White House responded immediately to media requests for comment.

The dispute between Harvard and the Trump administration began in March after the government’s antisemitism task force launched a review of the university’s federal funding. Since then, nearly $2.7 billion in grants have been withheld, including $450 million earlier this month.