Barron Trump: How tall he is that got people talking.

The journalistic tradition of determining the height of a public figure is a long and storied one. While we can’t be certain that fledgling New York Times reporters hunted down clues in 1860 about the comparative heights of presidential candidates Abraham Lincoln (6’4”) and Stephen A. Douglas (5’4”), there’s no doubt that the men’s relative stature was of great interest to the electorate at large. (After all, Douglas’s nickname was “Little Giant” and, some 160 years later, Lincoln remains famous for his height — among, you know, other things.)

In more recent years, similar investigations have been launched to determine the heights of everyone from Tom Cruise (5’7”) to Jake Gyllenhaal (5’11”) to Adam Driver (6’3” aka So Big). There’s even a website, the estimable CelebHeights, devoted to the topic. (Which, by the way, the only better place on the entire internet is FamousBirthdays, which affords a really generous interpretation of the word “famous.”)

But, it isn’t only celebrities whose heights are of interest today, politicians’ heights are still a topic of conversation; the myth that the taller of any two presidential candidates is the one who always wins is still pervasive, if demonstrably false. However, while some people might be interested in the respective heights of Bernie Sanders (6’0”) and Joe Biden (also 6’0”), or are perhaps invested in the height of President Donald Trump (either 6’ ½”, down from 6’2” at his peak, or 6’3”), we are only interested in the height of one of the other current residents of the White House: Barron Trump.

At 14 years old, Barron is the president’s youngest child, but he’s also, possibly, his tallest. As a recent photo of Barron revealed, the teenager is now towering over his parents, with whom he is currently sheltering in place, despite being not “as happy as he could be.”

Interestingly, the internet has no definitive answers. A quick Google of “how tall is Barron Trump” simply confirms the fact that Barron is, indeed, tall, and then offers up the information that Donald Trump is 6’3” — though that is almost certainly not true, as the President has, in the past, said his height was 6’2” and, as is the case with many septuagenarians, is presumed to have shrunk a bit in stature. Still, though, Barron is taller than his father, so is 6’1” — at least.

Barron is also taller than his mother, Melania, whose height is said to be 5’11”; Melania is most frequently photographed wearing heels, which would make her appear to be closer to 6’1” or 6’2,” making Barron even taller than that.

As is the case with pretty much all 14-year-olds, Barron wasn’t always as tall as he is now. (Obviously!) But because Barron has been not infrequently photographed during the precise years when most people experience significant growth spurts, his suddenly looming stature has become a point of interest. Where once it was possible to just say about Barron, “wow, he’s tall,” as compared to his notably tall parents, now there are calls for NBA scouts to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, because, wow, he’s tall.

Barron and his parents are not the only tall people in the Trump family. Don Jr. (6’1”), Eric (6’4”), and Ivanka (5’11”) are also objectively tall. Tiffany is not particularly tall (5’8”), but that’s not really so surprising, is it? Another prominent member of the Trump clan, Jared Kushner, is also tall (6’3”), and is one of those people whose height can be measured beyond mere inches, and verges into emotional measurement territory. (Kushner has been described as being “Slenderman-tall,” by me, to a friend. Slenderman is a cool 8’.)

Unfortunately, there are virtually no recent photos of Barron with any of his siblings or sibling-in-laws that we could use to determine if Barron is definitively taller than either Eric (6’4”) or Kushner (6’3” or 8’, depending).

But, that’s fine anyway, since the one thing of which we can be certain is that no matter how tall Barron is now, he’ll be taller soon, since most boys don’t finish growing until they’re 16, which is almost a full two years from now for Barron. And, according to one internet height predictor tool, by then, Barron might be 6’7″.

To which we say, good for you, Barron. Good for you.