A Resurfaced Video of Donald Trump Giving His Young Son Barron a Warning Shows His Strict Parenting Style
President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t seem to have a close relationship with his 18-year-old son Barron (he’s even said he hates taking pictures with him), and a resurfaced video of Trump, his wife Melania Trump, and then 4-year-old Barron might shed some light on why. In the clip, Trump gave his young son a stern warning that shows how his strict parenting style started young.
The rare video of the Trumps was part of an interview aired on Larry King’s old CNN talk show, per Daily Mail. At the time, The Apprentice host was shown outlining his expectations for his son before he went to preschool. “I want all A’s,” he says in the clip. “And when you get older, no drugs. No alcohol. No cigarettes. And, you know what else? No tattoos. I don’t ever want to see tattoos on you.”
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Oof! I understand wanting your kids to do well in school and stay away from alcohol and drugs, but a 4-year-old? This seems like a lot of pressure and anxiety for a preschooler, who should just be encouraged to make friends and have fun. And the whole “no tattoos, ever” thing? That seems a little unhinged, especially since that’s not a decision a child could even make until they are 18 (and a legal adult!).
Experts say that it’s good to talk to young kids about drugs and alcohol; however, it should be more of a two-way conversation that encourages questions from kids and listening from parents, rather than just a strict command that leaves no room for discussion.
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And pressuring kids about their grades can be detrimental to their mental health. “Research shows that parents who pressure their children to do well in school — including pressure in the form of guilt, or the use of rewards or praise for good grades — mostly succeed at undermining their kids’ interest in learning, which ironically interferes with future achievement,” Alfie Kohn, author of Unconditional Parenting and Punished by Rewards, told Forbes.
Kohn added, “Achievement pressure also sours the parent/child relationship and the way children view themselves: They learn that they’re loved, and indeed lovable, only when they bring home a good report card. When parental acceptance seems to come with strings attached, the same thing happens to their self-esteem, often with tragic results.”
It’s impossible to know what Trump and Barron’s relationship is really like, although we do know that Trump thinks the NYU student is “good-looking,” “very smart,” a “very nice guy,” and “a good student.”
We shudder to think what the consequences for Barron would be if he wasn’t those things, considering Trump has promised to be a dictator on “day one” of his presidency, per AP. (Trump’s also a convicted felon who was found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, whom he owes over $83 million, so he’s clearly not afraid to do things his own way, even if it means breaking the law.)
In addition to Barron, Trump is also dad to Donald Jr., born in Dec. 1977, Ivanka, born in Oct. 1981, and Eric, born in Jan. 1984, with late wife Ivana Trump, and daughter Tiffany, born in Oct. 1993, with ex-wife Marla Maples.
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