11 Times The Internet Went Wild Over Barron Trump
There are some things Barron Trump can't avoid. He certainly can't escape his famous moniker (although dad Donald Trump wanted to give Barron a different first name after he was born). His parents will move back to the White House for another four years if Donald wins a second term as president in 2024. And despite his best efforts, Barron can't get away from speculation about his life and opinions. Unlike his very public and very outspoken half-brother Donald Trump Jr., Barron has been kept away from news cameras and social media by his protective parents. Even when he does make an appearance, he usually looks as though he wishes he were somewhere else.
It's likely a combo of curiosity and sympathy that makes Barron an internet sensation whenever he's photographed, or when any fragment of news about him crops up. People can't help wondering whether he supports his father's political views, or if he'll one day follow his own path, like Ronald Reagan's son Ron Reagan. If Donald becomes the 47th POTUS, the gossip, memes, and tweets about Barron will only intensify. But will they ever top the most famous social media attention he got back in his dad's first term? Let's take a look back.
His dad's victory couldn't keep him awake
In 2016, former reality show host Donald Trump won the presidential election. Republicans hailed it as a breath of fresh air for America; a political newcomer overcoming the odds to defeat White House veteran Hillary Clinton. But as often happens on election nights, it took hours for the votes to be counted and finalized. By the time Donald was declared the winner, it was 3:00 AM in New York, where he was waiting to give his victory speech.
Running mate Mike Pence, along with the Trump family, stood beside the newly elected president's podium as he spoke about rebuilding the country. "No dream is too big, and no challenge is too great," he declared. Well, one challenge almost proved too great. Barron Trump, then 10, was standing next to his father at the time, so cameras caught him valiantly trying to stay awake. Yet he still nearly nodded off right there on the spot.
Dozens of online viewers expressed their sympathy. "Don't worry Barron; most of us were tired as well," was a typical response. The footage even went viral in Japan, per BuzzFeed; not only did viewers note the boy's fatigue, but some also noted how "cute" he was. One remarked, "I wonder if he'll start looking like his father when he grows old."
People were amused by Barron Trump's brush-off
Inauguration Day 2017 was one of the proudest moments in the life of Donald John Trump. For Barron William Trump, perhaps not so much. As his dad took his oath of office and addressed the nation for the first time as president, Barron once again seemed distracted. He was spotted frequently glancing away from the action and even openly yawning, as he had on election night. Was he overwhelmed by all the pomp and circumstance? Upset over having to move away from the Manhattan home he'd known since birth? Or just anxious to get out of the cold after standing outside at the Capitol for so long? Whatever the reason, the newly minted youngest first son barely cracked a smile during the entire ceremony.
After the swearing-in formalities, the president and his family took the traditional walk toward the White House. Even Barron gamely waved to the crowd. But when it came time to return to their limo to ride the rest of the route, Melania Trump reached for her son's hand, and he appeared to pull it away.
The moment didn't go unnoticed. Comments on CNN's video included, "Melania was about to hold Barron's hand but he pushed his hand away.. poor Melania that rejection." A second viewer defended the boy, writing, "[I]t doesn't mean he hates his mom or had a bad childhood, he was more than likely just wanting to look/act older and look independent."
Rumors spread about Barron Trump's supposed gaming interests
There's not much we know about Barron Trump, other than basics such as his March 20 birthday, his elite prep school education, and, of course, the fact that he towers above both his parents. The height difference between Barron and Donald Trump is rumored to be a source of tension; the 45th president enjoys presenting an imposing figure to the public, and being made to look smaller by his son is reportedly a sore point with him. But one alleged fact about the teen once caused sparked chatter on social media.
As reported by Slate, in the summer of 2020, an online rumor caught fire that Barron had an active account on the Roblox game-creation platform. Someone even went to the trouble of creating a bogus image, which claimed the then-first son was a fan of K-pop and supported LGBTQ+ rights. Intrigued Twitter users posted messages of support using the #FreeBarron hashtag, suggesting he needed to be liberated either from his family or from the restrictions of White House life. One user wrote, "Barron Trump has so much potential and deserves so much better. We can't let him turn into his dad. We can still save him while he's young!"
The rumors quieted down after the Trumps left Washington. But if the family returns there in 2024, it's quite possible another such story about Barron will make the rounds — and start the hashtag trending again.
A century-old book with Barron Trump's name sparked a conspiracy
Back in 1890, an American children's book author named Ingersoll Lockwood wrote two books featuring a protagonist with a very familiar name: "Travels and Adventures of Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulger" and a sequel, "Baron Trump's Marvelous Underground Journey." The novels are available on Amazon as a set that includes another Lockwood title, "The Last President." Sometime around 2020, the Twitterverse (otherwise known as the pre-Xverse) discovered the books existed, and the coincidence was just too irresistible. "Barron Trump time traveler" trended, with reactions ranging from the humorous to the downright disturbing. One commenter joked, "I don't know; Barron Trump being a time traveler sounds pretty entertaining to me." Another used AI to generate images of Barron in a time-traveling gaming mode.
The news also triggered conspiracy theorists, who argued online that the book proves Barron is a real-deal time traveler. One particularly, um, interesting tweet spins a convoluted claim involving a future Donald Trump going back in time to prevent an upcoming nuclear war. He also apparently saved Abraham Lincoln and JFK from being assassinated, and put body doubles in their place. Again, this is all rooted in fantasy, so take it with a boulder of salt.
A high five fail made headlines at the inauguration
At former President Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017, Melania Trump and Barron Trump were front and center. Unfortunately for Melania, this meant that all eyes (and cameras) were on her. In one awkward moment, she leaned towards Barron, who was 10 years old at the time, and raised her gloved hand to give him a high five. Barron made a gesture that seemed to indicate he wasn't interested in doing that. Then, Melania put up her hand again for another attempted high five, and Barron again shrugged off the gesture, leaving his mom hanging. On TikTok, the account @barrontrump4president shared the brief but uncomfortable encounter between mother and son, and it's as cringy years later as it was the day of.
Melania is known to dish out high fives; it's her go-to gesture when greeting the public. When she participated in lawn bowling while in England in 2018, she high-fived one of the men she was playing with. When she met elementary school children at Langley Air Force Base in 2018, she high-fived the kids. Alas, her own kid wouldn't play the high five game on what was arguably one of the biggest days for the Trump family.
High five fails aside, the mom and son do seem to get along swimmingly. So much so that a psychologist predicted that Barron's 18th birthday would be hard on Melania.
Citizens were charmed by Barron Trump's game of peek-a-boo with his nephew
On Donald Trump's inauguration day, the family headed inside so the new president could sign his cabinet picks. Standing with the rest of the group around the desk, young Barron Trump played a game of peek-a-boo with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's son, Theodore Kushner. Baby Theodore, who was only 9 months old at the time, was very engaged in the activity. And in one particularly hilarious moment, Barron tried to high-five his nephew. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the small tot didn't return the gesture; Barron perhaps got a glimpse of how Melania Trump felt when he denied her high five earlier that day.
The interaction warmed people to Barron all over the internet. "He's adorable," one person began on YouTube. "Such a sweet kid." Another person added, "Barron's such a cute uncle!" Even some people who don't align with Donald politically seemed to make an exception for his kid. "Barron is probably one of the very few reasons on why I have respect for the [T]rump family," one user chimed in. Another defended Barron while still disavowing his father. "I'm very much left-of-center and I despise what his dad is doing to the USA and civilization as a whole, but Barron seems to've somehow managed to be a decent kid for all that, and I'm ashamed of those on my side who've said anything negative about him," they wrote.
People joked that his parents forgot him at the White House
Donald and Melania Trump left the White House in January 2021, and departed for their new life in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. There was a lot of talk that day about how happy Melania looked; the former first lady was beaming as they said goodbye to their Washington, D.C., digs. But what was equally notable that day was that Barron Trump was nowhere to be seen. He was 14 years old at the time, and many expected the discreet first son to make an appearance for his last day in the White House. Much like his mother, Barron has sought out privacy throughout his entire life.
On TikTok, the absence of Barron spurred on content that Donald and Melania forgot him. TikTok user @chrisbarnescomedy shared a hilarious video where he pretended to be Barron wandering around the White House, wondering where everyone was. Naturally, there were a number of "Home Alone" references sprinkled throughout the comment section.
Making reference to another conspiracy theory about Barron, one TikTok user wrote, "he's probably time traveling." Another joked that Barron's height was garnering too much attention and Donald didn't want that. "Right. Baron is stealing the lime light. Donald can't have his son be the light," they quipped. Whatever the case, Barron was nowhere to be found when his mom and dad vacated 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
A theory about Barron Trump being of Tartarian descent made the rounds
There's a lively conspiracy theory going around TikTok that Barron Trump is a descendent of the Tartarian Empire. First, a wee bit of a backstory. The Tartarians were, allegedly, an advanced civilization located in what is now northern and central Asia. The theory is that they were a population of giants who were skilled architects. According to the lore, they built structures all over the world that were far more beautiful and useful than other buildings of the same era. As the theories go, the Tartarians were wiped out by a tremendous mud flood in the 1800s, and people who believe in this claim that governments have tried to cover up the existence of the Tartarian Empire.
As some TikTok users have pointed out, there's been a lot of chatter about Barron potentially being a direct descendent of this long-erased empire, largely because he's so tall. That said, given that it's a conspiracy and all, it shouldn't come as a shock that there are other netizens who think the Barron/Tarartian theory holds no water. As one TikTok user commented, "Maybe he's just tall."
A 'fair game' tweet about Barron Trump didn't go over well
As they say on "The Real Housewives," kids are off limits. Barron Trump was still a child when his family lived in the White House, and understandably, jokes at his expense weren't always well received. When law professor Pamela Karlan made a remark about Barron's name in 2020, Melania Trump took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to offer her response. "A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics," Melania tweeted. "Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it." Back in 2017, an "SNL" writer was suspended after making a crass joke about Barron on X.
On Barron's 18th birthday, former NBC executive Mike Sington tweeted a pointed message about the former president's son. "Barron Trump turns 18 today. He's fair game now," Sington wrote on March 20, 2024. In an effort to clarify what he meant by the since-deleted tweet, Sington told Newsweek that he meant Barron was "fair game" to the press, and didn't wish any harm on the young man.
On "The View," Chelsea Clinton responded to the uproar around Sington's tweet and defended Barron. "I think he's a private citizen," she said. "I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy, and I think the media should leave him alone." Many X users seemed to agree with this sentiment.
Barron Trump's height alone has generated serious buzz
Barron Trump, who is at least 6-foot-7 as of this writing, has gotten a lot of attention for his height over the years. In February 2024, Slate ran an article titled, "Will Barron Trump Ever Stop Growing?"; a month prior, The Palm Beach Post asked, "Wow! How Tall is Barron Trump?"
There's been a great deal of discourse about his height on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It would be funny as hell if Barron Trump just kept getting taller," one person tweeted in April 2024. "Like, we don't really see or hear about him for awhile, and then he's photographed at some swanky event and he's 12 feet tall." His height was a topic of conversation as far back as January 2020, when a video of Barron walking next to Melania and Donald Trump made the rounds. As Christine Rousselle tweeted at the time, "Barron Trump is the world's tallest 13 year old." Perhaps unsurprisingly, many sports fans have begged Barron to become a basketball player.
On TikTok, Barron's height has inspired a lot of content. In January 2024, TikTok user @alexismvfxalex shared a series of clips of the family and wrote, "barron trump's height is insane." In August 2023, @robertdowneyweeniehutjr shared a photo of Barron towering over the person he's posing with. The TikToker asked, "what are they feeding him??"
Mike Tyson raved about meeting Barron Trump and it was all over X
As far as Mike Tyson's concerned, Barron Trump's a winner. On a September 2021 episode of the "Patrick Bet David" podcast in September 2021, the heavyweight champ shared he'd recently spent time with Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and their son at Mar-a-Lago. "I just had dinner with him a week ago," Tyson said. "It was awesome. Me, him, Barron, and his mother, and it was just off the hook. Barron, he's so smart." Tyson couldn't stop talking about how brilliant Barron was. "This kid's on top of his game intellectually." While Tyson also raved about meeting Melania, it was Barron who stole the show for him that night. So at least for Tyson, Barron's intelligence was more notable than his height.
People were all about Tyson's budding friendship with Barron on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Just picturing Mike Tyson chatting with Barron like 'Hey kid, wanna learn how to punch like a champ?!'" someone tweeted. "Just watched Mike Tyson talking about Barron Trump and he couldn't stop gushing over how cool and polite the kid is," another wrote. "Who knew they were buddies?" Someone else on X appreciated the praise that Barron received. "[Y]eah with the way [B]arron walks and acts, [I] can tell he's going to shoot for the stars," they tweeted. "[H]e's going to be incredibly successful in life." So Barron seems to be loved by all, from Tyson himself to the Twitterverse, regardless of people's political opinions.