PHOTOS: Barron Trump Makes Rare White House Lawn Appearance

The president’s 10-year-old son, Barron Trump, made a rare appearance at the White House on March 17.

Barron was photographed walking with his parents across the White House lawn to Marine One and was then photographed getting off Air Force One with them on the way to Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate which Trump has called the Winter White House.

It looked like the presidential son has undergone a growth spurt (to give you a barometer, Melania Trump stands 5 foot 11 inches tall, and Donald Trump stands 6 foot 2 inches tall. That’s the height on his driver’s license, anyway; the president has said he’s 6 foot 3 inches). The Trumps have carefully shielded Barron from the public eye, and he’s only been seen on select occasions. His mother, First Lady Melania Trump, has said she’s staying mostly in New York until June so that Barron’s school is not disrupted.

The boy’s appearance on the public stage was arguably overshadowed by his mother’s fashion choice, as her red coat by Alice Roi drew attention.

It’s rare for the country to experience a boy growing up in the White House. You have to go back to John F. Kennedy Jr. and 1963, in fact. Many recent presidents have had only daughters. The National Post says Barron Trump, 10, is also the second youngest child to live in the White House in 50 years, after Sasha Obama. Before JFK Jr., you have to go back to 1901 and the boys of Theodore Roosevelt to find sons young enough to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Obamas, Clintons, Johnsons, and Nixons only had daughters. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, did too. Other presidents – such as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush – had sons, but they were adults by the time their fathers entered the White House. Donald Trump will become the oldest president inaugurated, but he’s one of the few recent presidents to have a son under 18 at the time he took office.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Barron and Melania will stay in New York until the end of the school year so as not to disrupt Barron’s schooling. Barron attends a $45,000 a year private school, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

According to Time Magazine, earlier in the country’s history, it was more common to see boys in the White House. “In the 19th century, the occupants of the White House had herds of boys. The Lincolns had four. The Grants had three sons and a daughter. The Hayeses had seven sons and a daughter,” wrote Time. “The Garfields had seven kids, five of them sons. Not all of these male heirs lived in the White House — many died young, or were too old to be living with their parents — but several did.”

Here are more photos of Barron Trump on March 17: