Donald Trump wanted Wayne Rooney to offer football lessons to his son, dubbed 'the new Peter Crouch'

Any chance of Donald Trump owning a football club ended when he was elected US president in 2016, but it did lead to an opportunity for his football-loving son, who earned comparisons to Peter Crouch due to his height and hold-up play.

Barron Trump, a budding midfielder, joined DC United’s youth setup after his old man moved to Washington DC. The teenager was also spotted having a kickabout in an Arsenal shirt in the White House grounds.

In 2018, Trump invited then DC United star Wayne Rooney and his wife, Coleen, to the White House, following the Englishman's move to MLS on a three-and-a-half year contract.

Donald Trump sees son compared to Peter Crouch

“He asked me to give his son some football lessons,” Rooney revealed. Coleen’s recollection of the occasion was rather less wholesome: “We walked in and Donald Trump said to his son, ‘See? I told you all the soccer players get good-looking girls’. I thought, ‘Dirty bastard...’”

Trump played a round of golf with Wayne rather than Coleen, on what turned out to be a very busy golf course.

“We had Rudy Giuliani in the buggy behind us, then about 50 to 100 golf buggies – all security,” the ex-England forward said. “There was a boat in the lake carrying snipers and there were snipers in the bushes... I was like, ‘What’s going on?!’”

A growth spurt meant that Barron developed into a different kind of player to Rooney, though. He was taller than his 6ft 3in dad by the age of 15, and dubbed ‘the new Peter Crouch’ as footage emerged of his expert hold-up play in a match. He stopped short of doing The Robot, however.

Barron has since left DC United and attends New York University, but plans to continue playing football. At 18, he’s now 6ft 7in.

Trump Sr explained: “I said, ‘You’re going to be a basketball player’, but he said, ‘I like soccer, dad’. You can’t talk them into everything.”