DISCLAIMER: This article was originally published in April 2024
For years, Barron Trump — Donald Trump’s youngest child and the only one he shares with wife Melania — was the lone member of the Trump family many people still held out a shred of hope for. Throughout Trump’s presidency and the avalanche of scandals that followed, Melania worked hard to shield her son from the glare of public attention, keeping him out of the political fray and away from the controversies that defined his father’s orbit.
That privacy, some hoped, might give Barron the chance to grow up without inheriting the baggage of his family’s brand — avoiding the racism, vitriol, and perpetual scandal that so often surrounds the Trump name.
But this spring, Barron turned 18, graduating from protected minor to full-fledged adult. And with that milestone came a shift: some in the media now considered him “fair game,” a move many critics found distasteful since Barron hadn’t publicly courted controversy. Then, a single viral photo cast doubt on whether those earlier hopes were misplaced.
The image, posted on X (formerly Twitter) by steel magnate Justin Waller, showed Barron — now an imposing 6’7” — standing alongside Waller, entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David, MMA fighter Colby Covington, and 17-year-old Bo Loudon, son of conservative commentator Gina Loudon. Waller captioned it simply:
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Good evening.
Let’s take this country back.. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/A82O6YxZJE
— JWaller7 (@Waller7J) April 3, 2024
As Newsweek reported, all four of Barron’s companions are well-known conservative figures. Waller has close ties to influencer Andrew Tate, Covington is a boisterous Trump supporter, Gina Loudon served on Trump’s 2020 media advisory board, and Bet-David is a high-profile right-wing commentator.
The photo drew a flood of reactions — many skeptical, others mocking:
You should practice NOT posing like a Sears catalog model…. Fucking clowns. This picture is so awkward it’s fucking funny.
— DD💙 (@dsquaredfu) April 5, 2024
Sus AF! 😬
— Monteroc (@rhonmhon8) April 5, 2024
Barron looks like he took a time machine to meet with you guys.
— Cody Manners (@CodyManners2) April 3, 2024
Barron Trump looks put together btw
Unfortunate that he isn’t surrounded by good male role models instead of reject male models from International Male
— RiotWomenn (@riotwomennn) April 5, 2024
Weirdos. Losers. Dorks
— Brōzd (@drozd_stephen) April 5, 2024
Some lamented the company Barron was keeping, suggesting he lacked positive role models. Others took shots at the group’s stiff, posed demeanor.
Bet-David later told Newsweek that Barron himself had invited him to dinner, calling him “sharp, witty, with a great sense of humor” and “interesting to listen to.” Waller described the evening at Mar-a-Lago as an “honor,” adding that online critics were “generally in pain” and that he preferred to remain “graceful” in the face of negativity.
Whether the photo signals a deeper political involvement for Barron or was simply a social evening with his father’s allies, one thing is clear: the once-insulated Trump heir is now squarely in the public spotlight — and people are taking notice.
Featured Image via Political Tribune Gallery
