Donald Trump was filmed telling Eric Trump he had 'all this stress' over his youngest son Barron 'experimenting' during a golf event in Virginia at the weekend, according to a professional lip reader who studied the silent footage.
The news came after the president spent Saturday at the LIV Golf Virginia tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, where he was seen chatting with Eric behind a pane of bulletproof glass. There is no audio of the exchange, but the clip has since become raw material for online speculation, with lip reader Nicola Hickling claiming to have deciphered what was said.
Trump's appearance at the Saudi-backed LIV event followed his trip less than a week earlier to the final round of the PGA Tour's Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami. The president has leaned heavily into golf as both business and backdrop, a stage where cameras follow even seemingly mundane family interactions.
In this case, the shot of Trump and Eric talking behind glass, cut off from sound, proved tempting for those keen to read more into his private concerns about Barron. Hickling, who describes herself as a 'profoundly deaf professional lip reader' with more than two decades' experience, toldThe Sunshe believed Trump was unburdening himself about his 19‑year‑old son.
According to Hickling's account, Trump turned to Eric and said: 'I got all this stress... Here's what I gotta do.' Her reconstruction of the silent dialogue has the president then appearing to weigh up how to handle Barron's behaviour.
'If you wanna go, do it, I would say you're too young for that, but he won't forget about it... Maybe... what is he rushing into?' Hickling claims Trump went on, suggesting a parental unease rather than anger. At that point, she says, Eric tried to reassure him, allegedly replying: 'He is like a teen, he's experimenting.'
Hickling says Trump then responded, simply: 'Absolutely.' The lip reader maintains that Eric pushed his father to be more direct with Barron, apparently telling him he 'needs to tell him' something.
In her version of events, Trump declined to overreact, saying: 'He'll come round.' The video shows Trump resting a hand on his elder son's shoulder, a gesture Hickling matches to the line: 'You know, I don't think he will see it. And chose this moment.'
What exactly Barron is supposed to be 'experimenting' with is never spelled out in Hickling's interpretation, and the clip itself offers no clues. Without audio, tone, or context, the entire conversation remains speculative. There has been no public comment from Donald Trump, Eric Trump or representatives for the Trump family on Hickling's claims.
Barron Trump has largely grown up in the glare of cameraswhile his parents have insisted he is off‑limits. Now believed to be 6ft 9in tall and attending New York University, he has been kept mostly away from interviews and formal duties, which only seems to have sharpened public curiosity every time his name surfaces.
Source: International Business Times UK
