What Do Donald And Barron Trump Actually Have In Common?
There has been speculation about the relationship between Donald Trump and Barron Trump throughout the years with some sources claiming the two were not close. "His son is effectively not at all a part of his life," journalist Michael Wolff said on "The Last Word with Laurence O'Donnell" in 2019 (via the Daily Mail). That claim was quickly refuted by former White House aide Stephanie Grisham. "I saw Barron spend a lot of time with his father in the [White House] residence. I would see them joke around quite a bit," she told the Daily Mail. Donald and Barron may be closer than some reports indicate and have more in common than many realize. For example, Donald was given a substantial financial leg up from his father, and Barron stands to gain the same advantage.
While on the campaign trail in 2015, the future president claimed on "Today" that he had only been given "a small loan of a million dollars" from his father Fred Trump, when he started in real estate. Reports show that Donald was given much more than he claimed, as Fred had a lawyer creatively funnel $3.35 million to his son's Trump Castle Casino Resort in 1991, according to a report by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Barron stands to inherit "a substantial trust" from his father, as a source told Page Six in September 2023. Melania Trump renegotiated her post-nup with Donald to ensure money was secured for Barron amid Donald's legal woes.
Besides inherited wealth, Donald and Barron also have a noticeable physical trait in common.
Donald Trump loves that Barron Trump is tall too
At 6-foot-3-inches, Donald Trump is one of the tallest people to be a U.S. president. As his son hit a growth spurt, Donald could not stop talking about Barron's height. Barron made headlines when he was 15 years old and spotted walking next to Melania Trump. The teenager towered over his mother in photos and the former president took pride in his son's genes. "Barron is 6-foot-7, can you believe it? And he's 15," Donald said in June 2021 while speaking to a crowd in North Carolina, per the New York Post. "Eric is short — he's only 6-foot-6," Donald said jokingly about his other son.
Barron's growth spurt was not over, and Donald continued to bring up his son's stature whenever he could. The former "The Apprentice" host sat down for an interview with Megyn Kelly in September 2023, and the subject of Barron came up. "Barron's a very good athlete. He's very tall ... about [6-foot-8-inches]," Donald said. "And he's a good kid, he's a good-looking kid," he added.
Months later, Donald squeezed in another reference to his son's height while speaking to a crowd in Des Moines in January. The presidential hopeful mentioned the death of Melania's mother. "Boy, did she take care of Barron. That's how he got so tall, he only ate her food," Donald said, as noted by the Daily Mail. Donald mentioned that despite his urging, Barron had chosen soccer over basketball. Previously, the father and son had bonded over another sport.
Donald Trump and Barron Trump played golf together
As Barron Trump was growing up, Melania Trump took on the majority of the parenting duties. "Barron is 9 years old ... As you know my husband is traveling all the time," Melania told People in September 2015. While not as often as Barron's mother, Donald Trump still found time to bond with his son. "So I give them space when it's Daddy and Barron time. They go alone for dinner, one-on-one," Melania said. During those daddy-son sessions, the pair would play Donald's favorite sport. "They play golf together ... [Barron's] a very natural athlete," Melania added. Donald used similar language when describing his own golf game a couple of years later in January 2017. "I think of golf as a very natural game," the then-president told Golf Digest. "I really trust instinct a lot, in golf and a lot of things."
As he grew up, the sport Barron preferred the most was soccer. When he was 11 years old, it was reported in September 2017 that Barron played for the DC United U-12 team. Even though he did not share a love for the sport, Donald made a grand gesture to his son when he invited famed Manchester United soccer player Wayne Rooney to the White House. Rooney was a member of DC United at the time. "Wayne is a huge name on DC United's team so obviously Donald invited them because of his son Barron and how much he loves the team," a source told The Sun in December 2018.