Trump Said Son Barron Won't Say He Loves Him, Veteran Reporter Claims

Jonathan Karl, ABC News' chief White House correspondent, has recently been on a press tour for "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," a New York Times bestseller that traces events following the 2020 presidential election, including the White House exit of the former US president.

During a Tuesday appearance on CNN's 'New Day,' Karl recalled an odd story in which POTUS 45 compared the veteran ABC News reporter to Barron Trump, the latter's youngest child, and proceeded to reveal that his teenage son will not vocally declare his love for his father.

Setting the scene as described in Karl's book, host John Berman detailed that Karl, then-head of the White House Correspondents Association, alongside reporter Zeke Miller, had an Oval Office meeting with Trump about the latter's potential attendance at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

Trump's relationship with the association was particularly contentious at the time, as he had dubbed the press the "enemy of the people" and repeatedly lashed out at various outlets and news personalities.

"The former president says 'Jonathan is very cool.' Trump told Miller, 'he's like my son,'" said Berman, reading an excerpt from the book. "Trump then proceeded to reenact a conversation with his son. 'Do you love your dad? I don’t know. But he does. But he’s too cool, the kids.'"

Berman continued with Karl's interpretation of Trump's remarks, which reportedly took place at the beginning of March 2020 - shortly before the US joined the world in COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine orders.

"Donald Trump, it seemed, was comparing me to his teenage son, Barron, and he was comparing my lack of excitement about his possible appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, with his son's reluctance to say out loud that he loved him," he said.

Karl told the CNN host that the entire exchange with the US president was "bizarre" and "odd", particularly because it appeared that Trump had an hour to spend with them while "the pandemic is breaking out all over the world."