The internet had a field day this week after a since-deleted X post tried to pair Barron Trump with one of the New York Post’s sharpest young columnists — and the columnist herself wasted no time setting the record straight.

Journalist Rikki Schlott, 25, shut down rumors that she is romantically involved with President Trump’s youngest son on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, reposting the original claim on X with a three-word response: “That’s a no.”

The denial, first spotlighted by OK! Magazine, quickly rippled across social media, where commenters couldn’t resist piling on with their own takes about Barron, 20, and the Post columnist who suddenly found herself caught in a very public rumor mill.

How the Rumor Got Started

It’s not entirely clear what sparked the speculation, but observers have a pretty good guess. Schlott and Barron both have ties to New York University, giving the internet just enough of a thread to pull. Barron is enrolled at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and Schlott previously studied history at the university before dropping out during the pandemic and later transferring to Columbia University.

There’s also the matter of a December 2024 article in which Schlott referred to Barron as “hunky” — a turn of phrase that, more than a year later, apparently still had legs. That small detail appears to be enough to have fueled the chatter, according to The Mirror US.

Reactions to Schlott’s denial ran the gamut. Some insisted Barron “is out of her league,” while others offered more playful digs: “I bet you wish you were? lol,” one commenter wrote. Another chimed in with “You would be so lucky.” A few flipped the script, telling Schlott she was “too smart and pretty for him.”

What We Actually Know About Barron’s Love Life

Here’s the short answer: not much. Barron has never publicly addressed his dating life, and neither has his family. But public interest has ramped up as he’s settled into college life.

In late 2024, a source told People, “He’s really popular with the ladies. He’s tall and handsome. A lot of people seem to think he’s pretty attractive — yes, even liberal people like him.” NewsNation followed up in May 2025 with a report that “Barron has a really nice girlfriend and hangs out with her a lot.”

Things took a more serious turn in early 2026, when a London courtroom aired details of Barron’s “very close” online relationship with a British woman he had met through social media. The woman’s then-boyfriend, Matvei Rumiantsev, had drunkenly attacked her on Jan. 18, 2025, after becoming jealous of her friendship with the president’s son. During the assault, Rumiantsev answered a FaceTime call from Barron and turned the camera to show the woman crying on the floor.

Barron immediately called 999, Britain’s emergency number, telling the operator: “I’m calling from the US. I just got a call from a girl… she’s getting beat up.” Police arrived and arrested Rumiantsev. At trial in London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court in January 2026, Rumiantsev — a Russian national and trained MMA fighter — described Barron as “quite persistent” and said he was “jealous to some extent” of the friendship. A jury convicted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Jan. 28, and he was later sentenced to four years in prison.

College, D.C., and a New Business

Barron enrolled at NYU’s Stern School of Business in September 2024 after graduating from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach. President Trump, 79, spoke warmly about the choice at the time, saying, “I went to Wharton, and that was certainly one that we were considering. We didn’t do that. We went for Stern.”

First Lady Melania Trump, 55, weighed in during a December 2024 appearance on “Fox & Friends,” saying she didn’t think it was “possible” for her son to be a “normal student” given his family’s profile — though she added she was very proud of him.

Although early reports had Barron taking an entire floor at Trump Tower, he has since relocated to Washington, D.C., with his parents, continuing his coursework through NYU’s Washington campus, according to RadarOnline.

He’s also quietly stepping into the business world. Barron is listed as one of five directors in Sollos Yerba Mate Inc., per business filings in Florida and Delaware this past January. The brand, SOLLOS Yerba Mate, is set to launch in May 2026, with its debut product already teased on LinkedIn: a 12-pack in Pineapple + Coconut.

The Bottom Line

For now, Barron remains one of the most private members of the Trump family, and Schlott has made it abundantly clear she isn’t dating him. As the Irish Star noted, very little is publicly known about his personal life — and based on this week’s swift response, at least one young journalist would prefer to keep her name out of the guessing game entirely.