One unexpected moment during President Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term wasn’t the nearly two-hour runtime or the visible partisan tension in the chamber — it was the appearance of Barron Trump for the high-profile occasion.
Now 19, the president’s youngest child and his only son with First Lady Melania Trump is hard to miss at public events, standing well above most people in the room — including his parents and older siblings — at a reported 6ft 7ins.
Because Barron typically keeps a low profile and is rarely seen at political set-pieces, his presence at the address caught many by surprise. He was seated alongside Melania Trump and his half-siblings Tiffany, Donald Trump Jr, Eric, and Ivanka, presenting a unified family front.
However, even with the show of support, one observer suggested there was a brief flash of friction between Barron and Ivanka during the divisive, nearly two-hour speech — with a lip reader claiming the teen gave his older sister a blunt response after she asked him something unclear.
Jeremy Freeman, a lip reader, told the Mirror he noticed a quiet exchange between the siblings as President Trump moved through what he described as a major and controversial year in US domestic and foreign policy.
According to Freeman, Ivanka, 44, appeared to ask Barron: ‘What are you doing on…?’ Though, he said he couldn’t make out what came before the question or what topic she was referring to.
Freeman claimed Barron then responded with: ‘I’m not sure…’ before adding a rude four-word comment.
“I couldn’t be a***d,” Barron told Ivanka.
What, exactly, he “couldn’t be bothered” to do wasn’t clear — and, as many people who know a typical 19-year-old might point out, it could just as easily relate to something mundane as it could to a detail of the evening, like his outfit choice.
Freeman wasn’t the only person focusing on the Barron-Ivanka interaction. The address, timed at one hour and 47 minutes, was described as the longest in American history, and viewers had ample time to observe small moments among the family members in attendance.
Body language expert Judi James told the Mail that seeing all five Trump children together offered clues about shifting dynamics, suggesting Barron and Ivanka could emerge as a notable pairing within the family.
She said: “Barron and Ivanka seemed to have formed a new sibling power couple, sitting side by side, with Barron looking watchful and serious while Ivanka chatted to him until they were engaged together in some ongoing conversation.”
That is, if Barron can be a***d.