Barron Trump's Dramatic Transformation Through The Years

Of all the Trump children, Barron Trump is arguably the most low-key. As the youngest, born in 2006, he mostly stays out of the spotlight. However, as he grows up and gets noticeably taller — almost towering over his famous parents — it's becoming more difficult for Barron to remain in the background. Particularly following his COVID diagnosis, which Barron's mother Melania Trump (the only child Donald Trump shares with his current wife) shared on the White House's official website.

He's clearly the apple of his mother's eye, with Melania telling the Palm Beach Daily News back in 2006, following her very first Mother's Day: "The love. It's unconditional love." Melania described being a new mom as "wonderful" and explained: "It's a miracle almost, I could say, that two people can create. It's very, very special." With Barron growing into a young man, though, he's making a name for himself in his own right, too. 

As his mother told Palm Beach Daily News, Barron Trump wasn't just an easy pregnancy for her, but a dream once he arrived, too. Melania Trump described little Barron as a "very happy baby. He's a very, very calm baby; he doesn't cry a lot. He's up throughout the day and has a good appetite. He's very curious. He wants to see [what's going on], and he loves company." Even back then, Barron knew how to let his mother know what he wanted, getting super excited when he saw the bottle coming. 

As for which family member the little guy looked like, clearly, there was only one choice. Melania proudly shared: "He reminds me of Donald. And a little bit of my dad. The baby looks like Donald. He has my eyes, and beautiful brown hair. He has long fingers and long legs" (via Palm Beach Daily News).

In 2009, Melania Trump bragged to People that Barron Trump, who was just 3 years old at the time, was already multilingual. "He speaks my language — Slovenian — English and French," she advised. Barron subsequently attended the exclusive Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As Vanity Fair reported in 2016, parents at the elite, $45,000 per year school panicked when Donald Trump got elected as president and he and Melania decided to keep Barron in New York City to finish the school year, due to the increased security required. 

Speaking to Us Weekly, Melania explained that uprooting her 10-year-old son wasn't an option. She noted: "At that age, it's hard to explain to them ... If they love school, if they love friends, they don't want to lose that." It makes sense that Barron wasn't eager to leave New York as Melania noted her son had a whole floor to himself in their lavish Trump Tower apartment, including his own living room (via Town & Country).

Although the decision for Barron Trump and, more pressingly, Melania Trump to remain in New York City rather than joining the president in Washington, D.C., led to raised eyebrows, the family eventually united in the White House in June 2017. The move was especially notable because it marked the first time in more than 50 years that a presidential son lived there (via CNN). All three of the preceding presidents — Obama, Bush, and Clinton — only had daughters. While other presidents since JFK had sons, they were adults and didn't live in the White House. Therefore, Barron was the first son since JFK Jr.

The youngster made history again as the first presidential child to attend St. Andrew's Episcopal in Potomac, Maryland, as confirmed by Town & Country. The independent school enrolls 580 students from preschool all the way up to 12th grade while the annual tuition sets parents back close to $40,000. The Obamas, Clintons, Nixons, and Roosevelts all sent their kids to Quaker school Sidwell Friends.

As he grows up, Barron Trump's interests are coming to the fore. Town & Country notes that Melania Trump told a forum at Liberty University that Barron doesn't use social media, but is "all into sports." Soccer appears to be his go-to, as the teenager was spotted wearing an Arsenal F.C. jersey, while he also met D.C. United players during the White House Easter Egg Roll in April 2017, according to The Washington Post. He even plays himself, having been selected to join the U-12 team as a midfielder for D.C. United's Development Academy for the 2017-2018 season, according to Soccer America. Barron then joined the Arlington Soccer Association U-13 for the 2018-2019 season.

Barron is also a major sneaker fan, with Footwear News reporting the New Balance 574 Cores are his favorites. The growing youngster continues to get taller too as he's becoming a man in his own right and soon won't be able to hide in the background at all anymore.

Former President Donald Trump's final day in office was January 20, 2021. His adult children were all present at his final speech as leader, but his youngest son Barron Trump was noticeably absent from the day's events. Barron was also not photographed walking with his father and mother, Melania Trump, when they left the White House for the last time as residents of the home (via People).

People magazine chalked up Barron's absence to his mother's preference for keeping him away from cameras and photographers during their tenure at the White House and noted that Barron was onboard the flight that the rest of his family took to Miami, Florida, following the speech.

It's believed that Barron spent time in his family home Mar-A-Lago following the end of his time in the White House (via People). Unlike his adult siblings and his mother, Barron also did not make any kind of statement following the Trump exit.

Barron Trump had a lot to look forward to following the end of his family's time in the White House. Likely at the top of that list was his first post-White House birthday in March 2021, when he turned 15 years old. Barron's mother Melania Trump tweeted a short message to note her son's birthday, writing on Twitter: "Happy birthday BWT." Melania also shared a photo of two balloons, a number one and a number five. 

Twitter users were a little surprised by the photo that Melania shared, particularly as the balloons were solid black. One user wrote to Melania: "You could have found a more cheerful pic. This looks quite morbid" (via Twitter).

Barron's older sister Tiffany Trump also shared her own birthday tribute to her little brother to mark the day. As noted by the Daily Mail, Tiffany shared a photo of herself and a much younger Barron smiling together and wrote: "Happy 15th Birthday B! I love you!" Barron's other siblings did not note his birthday on social media, but that isn't out of the ordinary for them. As the outlet also noted, the precedent is that the older Trump siblings celebrate the birthdays of their parents and of their partners online.

It became clear that the Trump family intended to stay in Florida when Barron Trump enrolled at the Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach. The school's Director of Advancement, Scott Siegfried, made a short announcement confirming Barron's impending attendance at the private school. Siegfried said: "We look forward to welcoming him into our school and community" (via People).

Siegfried also noted that Barron's attendance at the school presented a unique opportunity, as this was the first time the academy had to account for the presence of Secret Service agents on school grounds. As he said: "They want to have little impact on our day-to-day operations. They've done this for other former presidents' kids. They're fantastic" (via People).

The private school was founded in 2011 by William Koch and provides education for students in grades 6-12. According to the Oxbridge Academy website, the school boasts 54 acres and "fosters the development of young adults into learners, thinkers, and problem solvers." 

It seems that leaving the White House might have given Barron Trump and his father Donald Trump the opportunity to grow closer together. In a lengthy April 2021 article about Donald Trump's life and the lives of his family since leaving the presidential residence, People noted that several locals in the Mar-A-Lago area had spotted Barron and Donald playing golf together. 

As a source told the outlet that this wasn't a common occurrence and it certainly garnered a lot of attention from onlookers. The source told the magazine: "Donald actually played golf with Barron at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach over the weekend. ... This was a big deal and surprising." The source also made sure to note the rarity of the moment and added: "For those who see Donald playing golf so frequently they have rarely seen him with Barron."

Barron has also spent plenty of time with his mother Melania Trump. A spokesperson for the family told the outlet that Barron remains Melania's top priority and that she "is enjoying life at Mar-a-Lago. She is focused on being a mother and putting her family first, while working on various projects that will take time to finalize" (via People).

Because public photos of Barron Trump are pretty rare, many were surprised in July 2021 when the New York Post shared several photos of the teenager with his mother in New York City. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the photos is that Barron had grown to a seemingly unbelievable 6 feet, 7 inches tall — nearly a foot taller than his mother who is 5 feet, 11 inches, and taller than his father who is 6 feet, 3 inches.

Only a month earlier, Donald Trump spoke about how much Barron had grown at a political event in North Carolina. He revealed that at 6 feet, 7 inches, his youngest son had now eclipsed the formerly tallest member of the family, Eric Trump. Donald said: "Barron is 6-foot-7, can you believe it? And he's 15. ... Eric is short — he's only 6-foot-6."

Barron was photographed again in July 2022 at the funeral of Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump, and people were again surprised by his height. As noted by Showbiz CheatSheet, while Barron's height is surprising, both of his parents are taller than average.