President Donald Trump is far from a traditional president. The former reality star turned politician has shaken up the political world following his 2016 presidential election victory — and Trump's past isn't the only thing that makes him different from presidents past. His family is more than a little unconventional, when compared what we've seen in past administrations, at least. And these Trump family photos compared to past first families prove that. Plus, they're pretty interesting to look at side by side.
We know that Trump has a pretty big immediate family. That's (in part) thanks to his multiple marriages that resulted in a total of five children. Then throw all of Trump's grandkids into the mix and you've got a very full house.
The last three presidential administrations before Trump each lasted for two terms. That's 24 years that we've seen first families that never went into the double digits. So when Trump's ridiculously expansive family became this nation's first family, it was a strong departure from what we're used to seeing in the White House.
I don't think there has ever been a first family as expansive as the Trumps, especially when looking at first family pictures from the past. So let's do a little compare and contrast, shall we?
So let's break down Trump's family tree so we know exactly how large his family is. From his first marriage to Ivana Trump, we have the president's three eldest children: Donald Trump Jr., 40, Ivanka Trump, 36, and Eric Trump, 34. Then in his second marriage to Marla Maples, we have Trump's fourth kid Tiffany Trump, 24. And finally, in his latest marriage to first lady Melania Trump, we have Trump's youngest Barron Trump, 12. Which brings out tally to seven Trumps thus far.
Then we have the spouses of Trump's three eldest kids. Don Jr. is (currently) married to Vanessa Trump (but not for much longer, as the two are reportedly filing for divorce), Ivanka is married to Jared Kushner, and Eric is married to Lara Trump. That brings our new total to 10, which is already a pretty big family head count.
Now let's factor in all of Trumps grandkids, and that number nearly doubles. Let's start of with Don Jr. and Vanessa's children. In their nearly 13 years of marriage, the pair have become parents to five children: Kai, 10; Donald III, 9; Tristan, 6; Spencer, 5; and Chloe, 3. That increases the Trump family to 15 members.
And if that's not enough, Ivanka and Kushner also have multiple kids to add to the plate. Together they share daughter Arabella, 6, and two sons: Joseph, 4; and Theodore, 2. That brings us to a total of 18 Trump family members.
But that's not all! Eric and his wife had their first child together just last year in September. On Sept. 12, 2017, the president's ninth grandchild, Eric Jr. (known as Luke) was born, bringing us to a grand total of 19 Trump family members.
That's a lot of Trumps.
Trump's predecessor Barack Obama's first family was very noticeably smaller than the current first family. The Obamas were comprised of the former president's wife Michelle, and their two daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. Oh, and not to mention the first dogs from the Obama first family, Sunny and Bo. Combined the Obama first family totaled six members (including the two canine members), which is still a fraction of Trump's total family member number.
Before the Obama era, we had the George W. Bush era. His first family was actually pretty much identical to Obama's. The former president and his former first lady Laura Bush also had just two daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush. The Bushes also had two dogs while George W. was in office, Scottish terriers named Barney and Miss Beazley, which brings their total to six family members — pretty much just like the Obamas. Is there a theme here or something?
And before Bush in the '90s, Bill Clinton's first family was even smaller than Bush's. The former president and his former First Lady Hillary Clinton just had one daughter, Chelsea Clinton. But if you include both of the Clinton pets — a dog named Buddy and a cat named Socks — that brings the grand total to five family members.
Clearly, we really haven't been used to seeing first families as big as Trump's for a while now. And this current first family might continue to expand as the president continues to complete his first term in office. Are there more grandkids in the works? How soon will the Trump family hit the 20 member mark? I have a feeling it'll be sooner rather than later.
