Barron Trump's Health: The Bone Spur Rumors, Explained

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Barron Trump's health status has been a topic of discussion for as long as the first son has been a public figure. But naturally, not everything that's been said about Barron's health is true. Case in point: When a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, started a rumor that the college student had been living with the same ailment that his father, President Donald Trump, also reportedly navigated. They tweeted the headline: "Trump distraught as Barron diagnosed with hereditary bone spurs." Although the post has been viewed more than 1.7 million times at the time of writing, the claim remains unsubstantiated.

The ongoing fascination with the president's youngest son having bone spurs — "smooth, hard bumps of extra bone that form on the ends of bones," per WebMD — is understandable. Donald's bone spur diagnosis infamously kept him from being drafted in the Vietnam War, but the validity of the diagnosis has been repeatedly called into question over the years. And while the U.S. hasn't drafted citizens into the armed forces since then, the former "Apprentice" host's insistence on goading other countries into conflict inspired netizens to imagine a world in which Barron may have to fight in a potential war soon.

Alongside supposedly suffering from bone spurs, it's also long been rumored that Barron Trump has autism, which "affects how people interact, communicate, learn, and behave," according to WebMD. However, the first lady shut down that speculation when addressing Rosie O'Donnell's previous assertion that Barron might be on the spectrum. As Melania Trump admitted in her self-titled memoir, "Melania," "I was appalled by such cruelty." She elaborated, "It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn't like my husband." The rumors also negatively impacted the college student, with Melania sharing, "Barron's experience of being bullied both online and in real life following the incident is a clear indication of the irreparable damage caused."

Shifting away from the many wild rumors about Barron, in reality, the first son tested positive for COVID-19 in the middle of the pandemic. His mother publicly confirmed the news in October 2020. Although Barron initially escaped contracting the virus after several of his family members tested positive, he eventually caught it. "My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive," Melania wrote in a since-deleted White House blog post (via NPR). However, the first son fared better than most and didn't experience any adverse side affects. Melania also expressed gratitude over the fact that their family was able to spend some quality time together and help to take care of each other, adding, "He has since tested negative."