I think it’s safe to say that Donald and Barron Trump don’t have many father/son talks. Anyone who knows anything about the former president has seen him in action. He promotes himself endlessly and that’s especially true now that he’s a convicted felon. Trump is almost certainly worried about his chances of being reelected president after all that’s happened.

And it doesn’t leave a lot of time for bonding between father and son.

The former president talked things up with Dr. Phil (McGraw) in an interview shared on X, according to Newsweek. Trump, who is now the first president ever to be convicted of a crime, discussed the ways that the allegations against him have affected his family.

Young Barron, who graduated from high school in Florida last month, was of special concern to Dr. Phil, who asked if there was “blowback on Barron because he’s younger and more vulnerable.”

Of course, since Trump is all Trump all the time, he didn’t have much to say that we haven’t heard him say before.

“It’s not easy,” he replied. “He’s a great kid—he’s a good student, he got accepted to different colleges. Some of those colleges all of a sudden, they’re rioting all over the place. But he’s a good boy. He’s a tall boy, very tall, and he’s a great kid. Good-looking kid. And, you know, going to be at college.”

The ex-president did say that he thinks his son keeps at least some things to himself. That in itself makes Barron seem different from his father, who always has his mouth going 24/7. Perhaps unlike dear old Dad, this young man is more introspective.

“But he doesn’t say it, and I think he doesn’t say it because he doesn’t want to hurt me, and he thinks it’s possibly a hurtful conversation,” the former star of The Apprentice continued. “But it has to affect my family, and I think that’s really very unfair. Because I have a very good family; I have good kids, I have a wonderful wife.”

Then he turned his thoughts to Melania, who has always remained close to her son. Especially since his felony conviction stems from payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels through his then-attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen.

“I mean, it’s not easy for her to read this kind of stuff that’s fake… But that’s the way it is. It certainly is not a good thing. It affects me more than it would if it were just about me—I wish it would be just about me.”

But once again, Trump is portraying everyone, but most especially himself, as the victim here. He may not have been considering running for president in 2006 when he purportedly had sex with Daniels but it became one of the uglier issues of the 2016 presidential election. A lot of horribly awful things were revealed about Trump and yet he still became president. Ugh.

Perhaps Trump’s many transgressions have helped seal the bond between Melania and Barron. It’s easier to weather storms when you have someone close by. As for Donald Trump, he had his Republican cronies, campaign team, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and other boot-lickers to get him through this. He certainly didn’t have Barron by his side and he alienated his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump.

And he brought all of this on himself. Hopefully, the sins of the father aren’t repeated by the youngest son. Barron has watched from afar, protected by his mother, and I hope when he sets out he follows a more beneficial path.

Here’s McGraw’s interview with Trump below.

Dr. Phil asked how Barron and Melania are dealing with the blowback from the rigged trials and fake news hit pieces.

His response shows Donald Trump is truly a family man and the people’s president 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/gweWaNIAaA

— The Trump Train 🚂🇺🇸 (@The_Trump_Train) June 7, 2024