Donald Trump has always positioned himself as the man with the solutions, but his latest suggestion to parents — delivered with the same flourish he uses to hype his ballroom — landed with all the subtlety of a holiday stocking filled with loose gravel.
Instead of offering comfort to families navigating rising costs, Trump used his rally at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, to urge Americans to simply “buy fewer gifts” — a message that landed more like a fast track to holiday disappointment than holiday cheer. And with Christmas fast approaching, the glaring contrast with his own son Barron’s spend-as-he-pleases lifestyle is becoming impossible to ignore.
Trump’s remarks began as a defense of tariffs but quickly drifted into lifestyle commentary. He told the crowd, “You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils… Every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two. They don’t need that many… You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice, but you don’t need 37 dolls.”
The message echoed the idea Trump floated in May 2025, when he declared an 11-year-old doesn’t need “30 dolls,” only now it resurfaced in the heart of the holiday season, when parents are already calculating what they can no longer afford.
His current comments had many on Threads reacting, pointing at his wealth, the ballroom, and his youngest son.
One person said Trump was basically saying, “Just buy less things you poors. But also everything is fine and you can buy lots. But don’t.”
“Spoken like a man who has never been in a school where students lose 37 pencils a day,” said one jokester.
Others couldn’t ignore the contrast with his own family, wrote, “Didn’t Barron have his own FLOOR OF A BUILDING for his room?”
just some of barron trump’s toys… including a mini mercedes convertible https://t.co/CsJ8Lp1woy pic.twitter.com/SBxVfstG0o
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) May 5, 2025
Another took aim at his aesthetic, posting, “This from the dude who covered the Oval Office in gold and is building a… ballroom where the east wing of the Whitehouse was.”
A third person wrote, “This is a guy who regularly flies to his own club/golf course developments at great expense to tax payers, *makes money* from the visits then returns to an office he has absolutely covered in gold crap that he insists is all real gold. Who is giving up extras here? This is a man who has never sacrificed in any way.”
And as frustration built, another summed it up with, “If my kid doesn’t deserve 37 dolls, YOU DON’T DESERVE A BALLROOM, PIGGY.”
That contrast is significant because Barron’s childhood — presented through glowing interviews and footage — was filled with abundance.
He once had an entire floor of the Manhattan penthouse to himself, complete with a kitchen, playroom, and space for nannies. Melania famously said she used her luxury skin care on him “from head to toe,” and his toy collection included life-size animals, a miniature Mercedes-Benz, and designer pieces that turned his playroom into a showroom.
View on Threads
Barron’s wealth is also projected to climb dramatically. According to People, he is currently worth about $150 million and can buy as many dolls and pencils as he wants, thanks to his family investments in cryptocurrency and overseas business deals. And it is believed that once his locked-up tokens mature, he may be worth as much as a whopping $525 million.
Now, as a college student with crypto wealth already in the nine-figure range, he remains far removed from the belt-tightening message aimed at American families.
Trump’s oversized ballroom ambitions added another layer to the criticism. He touted the privately funded, 90,000-square-foot structure as the “most beautiful and spectacular Ballroom anywhere in the World,” but reports of clashes with his architect painted a different picture. By this month president replaced the architect.
His recent Mar-a-Lago gathering didn’t help. While millions dealt with cuts to essential programs like SNAP and many federal workers went without pay during the shutdown, Trump and his circle enjoyed an extravagant “Great Gatsby” themed party, complete with swimmers performing near an illuminated pool and plates of elaborate cuisine.
All of this stands in stark contrast to the holiday restraint Trump instructs families to embrace.
And that is why frustration has erupted so loudly. The man telling Americans to scale down Christmas is the same one unveiling marble rooms, planning one of the largest ballrooms in the country, and raising a son who has never faced a moment of scarcity.
