Old Pictures Of Donald & Barron Trump Prove How Far They've Grown Apart
It's hard not to feel a vicarious pang of nostalgia at old images of Donald Trump with his youngest child, Barron Trump. Barron has always been closer to his mom Melania Trump than to his dad, thanks to Donald's ego (he likes to be the one in the spotlight, even within his own family). Yet a look at Melania's pre-White House Twitter X posts from 2014 reveals some surprisingly heartwarming moments between father and son. For instance, on Thanksgiving of that year, she shared a candid snap of Donald and Barron, both in dark suits, walking ahead of her. "My two boys," she wrote, adding a heart emoji and the hashtags "#thanksgiving" and "#thankful."
My two boys ❤️ #thanksgiving #thankful pic.twitter.com/bsFGoYZArW
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) November 28, 2014
Earlier that year, the future first lady posted a pic she'd taken from the back seat of the family car, showing her husband and then-9-year-old son up front. "I (heart) my handsome driver & security!" she declared in a rare statement of affection. (Some commenters did wonder, however, why the "Apprentice" host was making his wife sit in the back seat.) Most poignant of all, though, were two photos showing the Trump men bonding over golf: one of them watching a match at Trump Doral, and the other capturing them in a delighted high-five on the course at Trump International Scotland. It's not a sight you're likely to see nowadays.
Like father, like son? Maybe not so much anymore
Donald Trump has freely admitted he's not the type of dad who changes diapers and takes his kids to the park, responsibilities he considers emasculating. "It's just not for me," he once said in an interview (per Cosmopolitan). So when Barron entered the picture in 2006, mom Melania did the bulk of the childrearing while Trump tended to business. Only when his son was a little older did the mogul spend more time with him (who can forget Barron's viral "suitcase" video, in which he proudly showed off his mini briefcase to Dad before heading to school?). Melania's Facebook photo album shows Barron also played baseball, tennis, and basketball in grade school. It's hard to say whether his dad attended his games, but he was certainly pleased with his youngest son's skill on the green.
Today, however, it's Kai Trump who's the golfer Donald always wanted Barron to be, and those dad-son moments seem to be turning into a "Cat's in the Cradle" scenario. Though Barron helped his dad win over Gen Z voters by pointing him toward relevant podcasters for interviews, he's now busy at school a few hundred miles from the White House. (Even at NYU, Barron's lowkey behavior suggests he's not active in college sports, or any other extracurriculars, for that matter.) When the president attended Super Bowl LXI and the 2025 Daytona 500, Barron wasn't with him to share the excitement; instead, sibs Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump and their children got the honors. Even on the rare occasions Donald and Barron are together, the younger Trump seems to give off that vibe familiar to any parent of a teen, thinking something like, "I'm being a good sport, but I wish I were FaceTiming my friends instead."
I ❤ my handsome driver & security! 😍😉 pic.twitter.com/VHN6YAgVyM
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) February 16, 2014
Barron is on track to get his degree just a few months before his dad (reluctantly) leaves office for the second and final time. Let's hope this gives them an opportunity to reconnect.