Former President Donald Trump’s sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate boasts high ceilings. During the holidays, it also features a towering Christmas tree.
With the former president’s son Barron in attendance, however, anything tall seems to pale in comparison.
On Tuesday, a Trump family photo in front of the Mar-a-Lago Christmas tree went viral and prompted a number of comments about 17-year-old Barron’s astonishing height.
The photo featured Barron standing to the right of his 6-foot-3 father. Remarkably, the 17-year-old looked to be nearly a full head taller than the former president.
On the social media platform X, prominent conservatives shared the photo and made lighthearted comments about Barron’s obvious growth spurt.
“What are they feeding Barron?!?” commentator Benny Johnson wrote.
What are they feeding Barron?!? pic.twitter.com/jZteAdY9NW
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 27, 2023
“Barron Trump is on pace to be 14 feet tall,” wrote commentator Caleb Hull.
Barron Trump is on pace to be 14 feet tall pic.twitter.com/lTAbZMsPmi
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) December 27, 2023
Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of the Washington, D.C.-based conservative news site The National Pulse, thought Barron could perform the task of the “Humble Bumble” — the Abominable Snowman from the 1964 stop-motion animated Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
“Barron Trump places the angel on the tree without a step ladder,” Kassam tweeted.
Barron Trump places the angel on the tree without a step ladder. pic.twitter.com/olxdxMUlmB
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) December 26, 2023
Barron’s mother, 5-foot-11 former first lady Melania Trump, did not appear in the Christmas photo. The New York Post’s Page Six reported on Wednesday that she’s busy taking care of her ailing mother and was at the hospital when the photo was taken.
Other family members, including the former president’s son Eric Trump and wife Lara, also did not appear.
Their presence, however, likely would not have prevented Barron from stealing the show.
After all, the teenager’s remarkable post-White House growth spurt has attracted attention in the past.
In July 2021, for instance, cameras caught then-15-year-old Barron leaving New York’s Trump Tower with Melania. Only a month prior, the former president had publicly commented that his son now stood 6-foot-7.
Then, in June 2022, a photo of Barron during a 2021 Mother’s Day celebration went viral and prompted similar comments about the teenager’s height.
The same thing happened a month later at the funeral for Ivana Trump, the former president’s first wife.
By the time the former president announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in Nov. 2022, social media users speculated that the then-16-year-old Barron might even have eclipsed his reported height of 6-foot-7.
Of course, it requires only ordinary empathy to imagine that such attention might make the young man feel awkward. After all, standing out from the crowd due to physical appearance does not sit well with some teenagers.
Standing out in a crowd as the son of a man who is probably the most loved and hated American of the current age has to present a challenge all its own.
On the other hand, Barron inherited Donald and Melania’s genes. Thus, the teenager has a strong probability of growing into a remarkable man.
If he combines his father’s courage with his mother’s grace, then his imposing height will only accentuate his formidable character.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
