Did Donald Trump Really Admit To A Reporter That Barron Refuses To Say I Love You To Him?

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump watched his approval ratings climb and fall, though he has often staunchly claimed that the lower numbers in the media aren't accurate. During the summer of 2017, Donald cited a poll that put his approval rating at 46%, even though the other polls had him a bit lower than that. He took to his Twitter account at the time to clarify the matter by writing (via Business Insider), "One of the most accurate polls last time around. But #FakeNews likes to say we're in the 30s. They are wrong. Some people think numbers could be in the 50s. Together, WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Needless to say, the former president has been preoccupied with his popularity with the public. Explaining his position as a businessman from New York City, Donald said in an interview with CNN, "Everybody loves me. When I call them, they always treated me well. And that's part of the game." However, if there's one person that is having a hard time reciprocating that love to him, it's Donald's teenage son, Barron Trump. Or at least that's what Donald allegedly told one reporter about their father-son relationship.

While there's no doubt that a lot of parents have difficulty navigating their relationships with their teenage children, Donald Trump allegedly told a reporter that his son Barron Trump is "too cool" to say "I love you" to him. ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl's new book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," gives an inside look to the final weeks of Donald's one and only term in office. In the book, Karl recalled a conversation he had with the president, in which Donald compared the reporter's less-than-enthused reaction to his youngest son's own demeanor. 

Karl put it this way (via the Daily Mail), "The former president says, 'Jonathan is very cool.' He told [reporter] Zeke Miller, 'He's like my son.' Trump then proceeded to reenact a conversation with his son. 'Do you love your dad? I don't know. But he does. But he's too cool, the kids.'" Karl then continued, "Donald Trump, it seemed, was comparing me to his teenage son, Barron, and he was comparing my lack of excitement about his possible appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, with his son's reluctance to say out loud that he loved him." 

No word on how Barron truly feels about the alleged comment (or his dad), but according to Newsweek, the former president's approval ratings are on the rise in several key swing states — and maybe at home, too.

But then again, this isn't the first time that Donald Trump has made headlines for some of the more bizarre things he's said about his son Barron Trump, or other members of his family for that reason. During a press conference in September 2019, the former president talked about how passionate his wife Melania Trump felt about the dangers of vape companies targeting young teens, as detailed in Esquire.

Donald said, "We can't have our youth be so affected, and I'm hearing it, and that's how the first lady got involved. She's got a son, together, that's a beautiful young man, and she feels very, very strongly about it." Fatherly pointed out the awkwardness of Donald's statement, as he referred to his own son Barron as his "wife's son." 

However, Donald has pointed out that he's always prided himself in being a good father, according to People, in 2015. He's discouraged the use of drugs and alcohol with all of his children, as he said, "Because if you're going to start you can't get off!"

In their 2015 interview with People, Donald and Melania Trump said that they were very hands-on with their son Barron Trump and that they didn't rely on having a nanny at home, despite their busy schedules. Donald said, "We keep it down to a minimum. If you have too much help, you don't get to know your children."

Melania, meanwhile, has done everything she could to keep Barron out of the spotlight, and especially during the four years that Donald was in the White House. Yet, even her Twitter post for Barron's 15th birthday seemed to attract some criticism, simply because she chose black balloons to help mark the occasion. If that weren't enough, Melania's spokesperson also had to slam "inappropriate and insensitive comments" when Food Network host John Henson suggested that Donald was not Barron's biological father, per The Hill. 

With so much speculation on whether or not Donald is his biological father, or whether or not he truly does love him, it's no wonder that the teen wants to keep his life private and remain under the spotlight as much as possible.