Among President Donald Trump's invitees to his State of the Union address this year are shooting survivors, police officers, families of war veterans — and a sixth-grader from Delaware named Joshua Trump.
According to the White House, Joshua is an 11-year-old from Wilmington who has been bullied by his classmates because of his last name.
According to WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, the bullying began when Donald Trump announced his run for president in 2015. Eventually, the bullying became so intense that Joshua's parents, Bobby Berto and Megan Trump, decided to pull him out of his local school district to homeschool him for a year.
With Joshua starting middle school this year, his parents re-enrolled him in public school. But the bullying continued. WPVI reports that five students were ultimately disciplined for their actions, and the school was forced to change Joshua's last name in their records to that of his father's.
On Tuesday evening, Joshua will have the opportunity to meet the president and watch his State of the Union form inside the Capitol Building — an event only available through invitation of a congressman or the President.
The White House also notes that Joshua "loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future," and that Joshua's hero is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the Air Force.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
