Melania Trump writes about Barron's childhood in a memoir coming out this year, and for the first time says something concrete about her son's relationship with his grandmother - Amalija Knavs, the Slovenian woman who died in January 2024. She describes the bond as "magical," and confirms that his grandmother kept him in contact with his Slovenian identity - through traditional food, stories and language.

"My mother was the embodiment of love and warmth; for Barron, she was a grandmother who filled every moment with joy and wisdom," Melania writes. "Every story she read to Barron sparked his imagination, and every game strengthened their bond."

Barron is now 19 years old and studying at NYU's Stern School of Business. Unlike Trump's older children, he has decided to stay out of the media spotlight. It's also one of the few instinctive choices in this family that doesn't sound like PR, but like a real breath away from the institution of his father.

The advice for parents that Melania gives is concise: "Surround your children with love and support, and always communicate openly." A simple formulation from a woman living inside one of the most complicated families of the 21st century.

For the Balkan mother, this is a recognisable picture - the immigrant grandmother, the traditional recipes, the language from the old country that isn't going to be lost on the grandchildren growing up abroad. The only difference is that in Macedonia tens of thousands of families do this every day without books and without headlines, and without anyone to call the link to the old house "magical."