Her name is Kai Trump, she is 18 years old and the eldest of the American president’s 10 grandchildren. His father is Donald Trump Jr. His mother, Vanessa, is in a relationship with Tiger Woods. With eight million followers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms, he is a social media star. Every photo or video he posts goes viral. He participated in his grandfather’s presidential campaign to win over young voters. He has his own clothing brand, which he promotes at the White House. And she is an amateur golfer who will make her debut on November 13 in a tournament on the LPGA Tour, the world’s elite circuit, thanks to a sponsorship invitation.
Sports, politics and the world of the media converge in Kai Trump, a student at Benjamin High School in Palm Beach, Florida, who will study and play golf at the University of Miami next year. For now, she will have the opportunity to meet the world’s best golfers – such as 2024 LPGA Tour Player of the Year Nelly Korda – at Annika, an LPGA Tour event where Spanish players Carlota Ciganda, Azahara Muñoz and Julia López also compete. The tournament granted her a “sponsorship waiver” to “grow the game of golf among a younger, more diverse audience.” And Kai Trump is a gold mine there, having stood on the podium at the Republican National Convention to defend his grandfather’s ideas before the last election. “To me he’s just a normal grandfather; he gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking,” he joked. The president of the United States financially supports the tournament in which he invited his niece to participate and which offers a prize pool of 3.25 million dollars.
Donald Trump’s close relationship with golf has extended to Kai, an American Junior Golf Association player (ranked 461st) whose caddy is Allan Kournikova, brother of famous former tennis player Anna. His appeal is much more media-related than athletic. On the course it doesn’t shine among the best. But other than that, it’s a sensation. On her YouTube channel (1.35 million subscribers) there is, for example, a 28-minute video that shows her spending a day with her grandfather at the last Ryder Cup: from the ride on Air Force One to donuts for dessert at dinner. In another video about X, he poses at the White House wearing sweatshirts printed with his initials, KT, priced at $130 each. He also shows his grandfather’s birthday present – a $100,000 Tesla – as well as sharing an inside account of election night when Trump won last November and of a SpaceX rocket launch with Elon Musk.
Live now on https://t.co/n43nmju2TF (link in bio)! This collection is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time and I’m so grateful that it’s finally here. The launch of this line was a truly exciting project. From the quality of the fabric to the details in the designs, I wanted… pic.twitter.com/9f7JnDpipl
— Kai Trump (@kaitrum) September 25, 2025
The LPGA, meanwhile, is rubbing its hands with glee over Kai. “I guess (…) this is one of the most talked about women’s golf tournaments that has ever existed,” said Justin Sheehan, chief operating officer of the Pelican Golf Club. “It’s on news channels and sports channels. The number of impressions on social media … is staggering. Love it or hate it, it’s getting people talking about the event.”
“The ANNIKA Foundation is a beneficiary here, and our goal is to provide and empower our women. It also fits perfectly with our mission,” added Swedish legend Annika Sörenstam, the tournament’s host. Kai has no shortage of advice, even if his grandfather won’t be able to be there to watch: “He’s running the world right now, so he’s a little busy,” he joked. “(Tiger) told me to go out there, have fun and go with the flow.”
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