Strange Things About Donald Trump's Relationship With His Youngest Son Barron
Donald Trump often seems over the moon about having Barron Trump as his son, showering him with praise at every opportunity. He paints Barron as the epitome of a model child, a stand-up guy with a good head on his shoulders. However, actions speak louder than words, and it looks like their relationship is practically nonexistent if you believe what he and everyone around them says.
Since Barron was born, Donald has seemed ecstatic about having to raise a young boy, even revealing that naming him Barron was a personal choice. "It's a name I've always loved, but I never had the courage to use. I gave the idea to Melania, and then I was going to take it away at the very end, and she said, 'You can't take it away! I've been calling him Barron while he's been in my stomach, and you just can't take it away!'" Donald said on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The former president also once made a claim that he has a close relationship with mini-Donald, telling Megyn Kelly, "Our dinners are nice dinners, our dinners are like people's dinners ... we actually get along very well."
But if you read between the lines of Donald's own words, it seems like their relationship is a bit more fiction than fact. There are some strange things about his relationship with Barron that are just too hard to ignore, including how he doesn't seem to have an idea of what's going on in Barron's life and his admission that he's quite jealous of Barron's height.
Donald did not lend much of a hand tending to Barron when he was a baby
Donald Trump isn't exactly winning any Father of the Year awards, but calling him a deadbeat might be a bit much. Just when you thought he could at least manage the basic dad duties, like changing a diaper, he admitted to not bothering with any of that. According to him, he doesn't deal with nappies, not even for Barron. Just weeks after his youngest was born in 2006, he told the New York Post he wouldn't touch diapers with a ten-foot pole. "I would never ask to change him," he said, insisting that his wife would disapprove of his work anyway. "I would love to change him! But Melania probably wouldn't let me. I'd just do it wrong."
And what is Donald if not consistent? He also skipped diaper duty with his older kids, as his late ex-wife Ivana revealed. "Nope, never changed a diaper," she said on "The Ray D'Arcy Show" in 2017. "And he was always on the telephone. He was a good, loving dad. ... He did not know how to do that until the kids were in university and he could talk business with them." To be fair, Donald doesn't deny this. "I like kids. I mean, I won't do anything to take care of them," he once confessed to Howard Stern, emphasizing that his role is just bankrolling his kids (via The New York Times). "I'll supply funds and she'll take care of the kids. It's not like I'm gonna be walking the kids down Central Park."
He also once forgot that Barron was his son
Refusing to change diapers is one thing, but forgetting you even have a son? That's a whole new level of parenting. In 2019, Donald Trump faced ridicule when he seemingly forgot about Barron Trump during a press conference on vaping and Melania's campaign against it. "Vaping has become very big business as I understand it — giant business in a very short period of time. We can't allow people to get sick, and we can't have our youth be so affected," he explained. "And that's how the first lady got involved. She's got a son — together. That is a beautiful young man, and she feels very, very strongly about it." Nice save, Donald! But really? A son — together? What does that even mean?
Years later, he appears to have committed to memory that he indeed has a teenage son, but the key details about Barron's life? Not so much. At the Republican party's national convention in May 2024, he talked about Barron possibly serving as a Florida delegate (spoiler alert: he declined). Donald, naturally, expressed interest but managed to botch a crucial detail: Barron's age. "He's pretty young, I will say. He's 17," Trump said in an interview with Telemundo 51. "But if they can do that, I'm all for it." At the time, Barron was already 18 and about to graduate from high school — the very graduation Donald was fuming about missing because of his mounting legal issues. Well, at least he remembered Barron existed this time!
Is Donald jealous of Barron?
Maybe the reason Donald Trump occasionally forgets he has a teenage son is because he's reportedly green with envy. According to insiders, Donald has a weird vendetta against his son for towering over him, with Barron's height a staggering 6 feet 7 inches — and he hasn't even stopped growing yet. "He's jealous of everyone's height. He never lets himself be in a photograph with someone taller than he is," journalist Michael Wolff told MSNBC. "Height is his — is one of his techniques. He uses his height — and, remember, Donald Trump is a very large man."
Trump himself even once admitted that he doesn't like getting photographed with Barron, implying that it's because he doesn't like looking small. "He's a big boy ... but I couldn't get him to play basketball," the former president said on Logan Paul's "Impaulsive" podcast. "He plays soccer, he's a good athlete. I say, 'Barron, I don't want to take a picture next to you.'" At this rate, Barron should probably hope he stops growing if he wants to retain his spot in the annual Trump Christmas family photo. Or maybe it's Donald who should step out of the frame?
Barron advises Donald on politics but refuses to be a delegate
One thing Barron and Donald Trump do bond over is, oddly enough, politics. While Barron hasn't shown any interest in joining the political circus, his father claims that he dabbles in it behind closed doors, offering his dad some sage advice. Donald hasn't shared specifics, but he insists Barron is not completely clueless about his dad's work. "He's seen it. He doesn't have to hear. He is a smart one. He doesn't have to hear much. But he's, he's a great guy," Donald shared on the "Kayal and Company" radio show. "And he's really been a great student. And he does like politics. It's sort of funny. He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do.'"
Ironically, as mentioned previously, Barron refused to serve as a delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention, citing other commitments. Too busy to help dear old dad, perhaps? "While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines due to prior commitments," a statement from Melania Trump's office read, according to ABC News. It's understandable, though, given that he's gearing up for college. And according to his father, colleges are tripping over themselves trying to get Barron to enroll with them. "He's applied to colleges and gets into everywhere he goes," he boasted on Fox News. "He's very sought after ... he's a very smart guy."
But they apparently have no relationship at all
Despite Donald Trump constantly buttering up for Barron Trump in the media, word on the street is their father-son relationship is practically nonexistent. In his MSNBC interview, Michael Wolff said that Donald isn't remotely close to Barron despite living under the same roof. "I think there are many issues. But this is a major issue because he really doesn't — he doesn't get along with his son, he doesn't communicate with his son," he revealed. "He doesn't — his son is effectively not at all a part of his life, even though he lives with him."
This claim is backed by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, one of Melania Trump's former aides, who said that Donald and Melania's marriage is a complete sham, suggesting that even Barron was just a prop. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Wolkoff dished that "The Apprentice" promo showing Donald being welcomed home by Melania and baby Barron was pure TV fiction. "Many may think 'DADDY'S HOME' is a Father's Day video. Nope! Millions of Americans watched 'the Apprentice.' Donald was a household name. He needed a woman who looked & played the part & let him be the star. Marrying Melania & making her a Vogue Cover model — legitimized them both," Wolkoff wrote. Guess this explains why Donald barely knows anything about his son at all — except, of course, his current height!