Former US President Donald Trump jealous of son Barron's height, new book claims
Barron Trump Surpasses Father's Height, Straining Their Relationship
Barron Trump, the youngest son of former President Donald Trump, has grown taller than his father — and that has reportedly caused some jealousy and resentment from the ex-commander-in-chief.
According to journalist Michael Wolff’s book “Siege: Trump Under Fire”, Donald Trump has a strained and distant relationship with Barron, and he tries to avoid being photographed next to him because of his height insecurity.
Wolff appeared on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” in June 2019 to talk about his book, and he revealed more details about Trump’s height obsession.
“[Donald] 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.”
The former president is indeed tall compared to most people, but his son Barron has surpassed him. While on “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, the former president said his youngest was “very tall — about 6’8” — and a good-looking kid."
However, it is hard to say how much taller Barron’s 6-feet 8-inches frame makes him than his father, because Donald’s height and weight measurements have been inconsistent and controversial.
Discrepancies in Donald's height and weight began during his initial months as president-elect. It was first brought to light when Politico revealed a one-inch variation between the height listed on his driver's license (6 feet 2 inches) and the 6 feet 3 inches recorded during his official White House physical in December 2016.
Slate suggested that the additional inch may have been an effort to prevent Trump from falling into the "obese" BMI category. A profile on Trump by Time repeated the taller height, saying, “It irritates [Donald] that so many media outlets say 6-foot-2”.
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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 way of insulting his opponents.
Mathews provided several instances of Trump using disparaging language to refer to his opponents, including nicknames like "Little Marco," "Liddle’ Adam Schiff," and tweets such as one where Trump commented on Michael Bloomberg, saying, "Mini Mike is a short ball (very) hitter."
According to the claims made by Wolff in "Siege: Trump Under Fire," Trump's preoccupation with height has further strained his already troubled relationship with his sole son from his third marriage to 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.
