Donald Trump's Height Difference With Son Barron Is A Rumored Source Of Their Tension
Former President Donald Trump is known for his fiery opinions and readiness to feud with others — and apparently, his youngest son Barron is no exception. Details from journalist Michael Wolff's book "Siege: Trump Under Fire" reveal that not only do Donald and Barron have a tense, distant relationship, but the former leader of the free world is allegedly so jealous of his young son's height that he'll avoid being photographed beside him.
Wolff visited MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" in June 2019 to discuss his book, offering further details on Trump's height insecurity. "[Donald Trump] is jealous of everyone's height," Wolff said. "He never lets himself be in a photograph with someone taller than he is. Height is one of his techniques. He uses his height — and, remember, Donald Trump is a very large man."
Donald Trump is certainly tall compared to most people, but his son Barron has grown even taller. While on "The Megyn Kelly Show" podcast, the former president said his youngest was "very tall — about 6'8" — and a good-looking kid." Just how much taller Barron's 6-feet 8-inches tall frame makes him than his father, however, is difficult to say, thanks to Donald's infamously fluctuating height and weight measurements.
Donald Trump has long been shifty about his height
Donald Trump's height and weight discrepancies began in his first few months as president-elect, with Politico reporting a one-inch height difference between his 6-feet 2-inches driver's license height and the 6-feet 3-inches measurement listed on his official White House physical in December 2016. Slate speculated that the mysterious extra inch was an attempt to keep Trump out of the "obese" BMI range. A profile on Trump published by Time reiterated the taller height, saying, "It irritates [Donald] that so many media outlets say 6-foot-2" (via Politico).
Columnist Jay Mathews, who has studied the effect of height in political elections for over three decades, reported in 2020 that Trump used height as a means of attack toward his opponents. Mathews offers various examples of Trump using diminutive language to describe his foes, including phrases like "Little Marco," "Liddle' Adam Schiff," and tweets like this where Trump writes of Michael Bloomberg, "Mini Mike is a short ball (very) hitter" (via Washington Post).
Based on author Michael Wolff's allegations in "Siege: Trump Under Fire," Trump's obsession with height has worsened an already tense relationship with his only son with his third wife, Melania Trump. "He doesn't get along with his son, he doesn't communicate with his son ... his son is effectively not at all a part of his life," Wolff told Lawrence O'Donnell in 2019.
Multiple sources allege Donald and Barron's relationship is practically non-existent
Trouble between Donald Trump and his youngest son Barron Trump seems to run deeper than a two-to-three-inch height difference. Jonathan Karl, author of "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," wrote about a conversation he had with Trump where the former president revealed Barron's reluctance to tell his father he loved him." Re-enacting a conversation between him and Barron, Donald said, "Do you love your dad? 'I don't know.' But he does. He's too cool, the kids." Karl called the moment "surreal" while speaking to CNN (via Facebook).
Michael Wolff's recounting of the contentious Trump family dynamics offers a plausible cause for Barron's hesitancy. While on "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell," Wolff said the former president doesn't treat his sons very well. "His young son, Barron, who theoretically lives with him, has become a major issue in his marriage," he said. Wolff's use of the word "theoretically" refers to the long-speculated rumor that Melania and Barron lived in Maryland, not the White House with Donald, which Wolff later confirmed in his interview.
At the very least, it seems like Donald need not worry about being pictured by his towering young son. Barron and his mother have been keeping their distance from Donald due to Melania's reported concerns about Barron amid Donald's legal woes. Indeed, it would appear that Donald has far more on his plate to worry about than whether he's the tallest man in the room.