Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Donald Trump has five children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and one ex-daughter-in-law. Most of them are selling various products, from cryptocurrency to activewear, when they aren’t dabbling in policymaking and shady yacht deals. So I understand that it’s tempting to draw the line at knowing things about Lara Trump and Vanessa Trump. But between receiving a controversial exemption to compete in the LPGA Tour next month and peddling $130 sweatshirts on the White House lawn, Kai Trump is becoming hard to ignore.
Here’s a guide, which we’ll keep updated, to what you need to know about the 18-year-old First Granddaughter, golfer, and social-media personality to maintain your Trump-family fluency.
How old is Kai Trump?
Kai Madison Trump turned 18 on May 12, 2025. She is the eldest of President Trump’s 11 grandchildren.
Who are her parents?
Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-wife, Vanessa Trump.
Does she have any siblings?
Yes. Don Jr. and Vanessa were married for 13 years and have five children: Kai; Donald III, 16; Tristan, 13; Spencer, 12; and Chloe, 10.
Though the couple divorced in 2018, Vanessa has remained close to the Trump family.
How is Tiger Woods involved?
Woods has been dating Vanessa since fall 2024. The legendary golfer announced their relationship with this March 2025 Instagram post:
How does Kai feel about this?
As far as we know, all of the Trumps are happy about the relationship. (President Trump and Ivanka Trump have both publicly expressed their support for the couple, and Don Jr. is reportedly “cool” with his ex-wife’s relationship.)
Kai has known Tiger for years; she shared a photo of herself and her grandfather with the golfer in a post wishing him well after his 2021 car accident.
In February 2025, Tiger was spotted at the Genesis Invitational golf tournament with Kai. A month later, she liked Tiger’s post announcing his relationship with her mother.
Kai named Tiger as one of her biggest golf influences in an August 2025 interview with the American Junior Golf Association.
“I would say a lot of the pros, obviously, like looking up to them and watching them,” Kai said. “Obviously, Tiger, Rory [McIlroy]. Like watching those guys, especially at such a young age, and now I get to know them.”
Is Kai involved in politics?
Only insofar as being Donald Trump’s granddaughter. Kai’s lone major political appearance was at the 2024 Republican National Convention. Her three-minute speech was meant to paint the then-former president as a “normal grandpa.” The only lines that alluded to political issues were fleeting references to “all these court cases” and people who “put my grandpa through hell,” along with some mild fake-news criticism in the closing lines.
“The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is,” she said. “He’s very caring and loving. He truly wants the best for this country, and he will fight every day to make America great again.”
What is Kai up to on social media?
Pretty normal stuff. Or, pretty normal stuff for an extremely wealthy influencer and aspiring professional golfer who happens to be the president’s granddaughter. Think “get ready with me” videos, viral memes, and photos of her dancing with her father at Trump’s second inauguration.
Kai’s social-media following shot up after her 2024 RNC speech, as NickiSwift.com noted at the time:
As a result, with Google besieged by searches for information about the young Florida resident, her Instagram account leaped from 125,000 to 185,000 followers that night. By the end of July, the tally kept spiking past 333,000.
Here she posts selfies with the president and get-ready-with-me videos before visiting the White House. She has several brand partnerships, including the golf brand TaylorMade Golf and the energy drink Accelerator Active Energy. She has also promoted fitness trackers, Theragun body massagers and womenswear on her social media pages.
Today, Kai has 3.5 million followers on TikTok, 2.5 million followers on Instagram, 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, and 991,000 followers on X.
Where does she go to school?
She is a senior at the Benjamin School, a private school in Palm Beach, Florida. Woods’s two teenagers also attend the school, where tuition is $38,595 per year.
In August 2024, Kai made a verbal commitment to join the University of Miami’s NCAA Division I women’s golf team upon enrolling in the fall of 2026.
So, is she a good golfer?
Yes, she is undeniably talented. She has been competing in junior and amateur tournaments nationally with the American Junior Golf Association and the Srixon Medalist Tour on the South Florida PGA.
Is she good enough to play in an LPGA tournament?
Perhaps not. But she’ll make her LPGA Tour debut next month thanks to a sponsor exemption.
I will be making my LPGA Tour debut in November at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican! See you November 10-16 - at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL. Visit https://t.co/iUuh3w1b47 @theannikalpga @ANNIKA59 @LPGA for more information. pic.twitter.com/mmqVfMFukD
— Kai Trump (@kaitrump) October 28, 2025
Kai received a sponsor exemption in late October to play in the Annika at Pelican Golf Club, November 13–16. This is the penultimate event on the LPGA schedule and it “typically has one of the strongest fields of the year outside the majors,” according to the AP. She is currently 461 in the AJGA girls ranking.
Ricki Lasky, LPGA’s chief tour business and operations officer, noted in a press release that sponsor invitations are “an important way to spotlight emerging talent” and bring attention to the tournaments. As for Kai’s qualifications, she noted that her “broad following and reach are helping introduce golf to new audiences, especially among younger fans.”
As Golf.com’s Claire Rogers explained, Kai is far from the first person to receive a controversial sponsor exemption:
In a piece for Golf Monthly, Alison Root described Kai receiving a sponsor’s exemption as an “understandable, if regrettable, business decision”:
For every available exemption, the up-and-coming college stars, struggling tour players, and international talents are grinding away and would give anything just for a chance to compete.
When a spot goes to a player whose main credential seems to be her last name and her social media reach, it must feel like a slap in the face to those who are further down the road in their journey of dedicating their lives to golf. I can only imagine how frustrating this must feel for them, but I guess that’s just the way the world works.
I understand that a tournament is a business, and clearly Trump’s invitation perfectly meets the commercial criteria of the tournament sponsor, for which these invitations are a core benefit of sponsorship. Who will help us sell the most tickets, attract the most corporate hospitality, and generate the most buzz?
It just confirms that connections and marketability matter more than four years of top-tier college play or consistent results on developmental tours.
Root added that she had “no personal criticism against Trump,” and doesn’t “envy the intense spotlight and scrutiny she will be under.”
Why is she selling sweatshirts on the White House lawn?
Because these days, using the presidency to promote your merch is what being a Trump is all about.
In September, Kai launched a line of cotton sweatshirts monogrammed with her initials. The preorder website features photos of Kai modeling the $130 sweatshirts, which come in three colors, in various spots outside the White House and at the Lincoln Memorial. She also dropped an Instagram video:
And Kai wore one of her sweatshirts when she and President Trump flew on Air Force One to the Ryder Cup in Farmingdale:
“Not many people get to do this, so I’m pretty lucky,” she said in a third post that showed her playing golf on the South Lawn while wearing one of her sweatshirts:
Isn’t this unethical?
Maybe? But if even if it is, it’s so low on the list of Trump-related ethics violations that no one really cares. Government officials told The Wall Street Journal it’s no big deal since Kai is a private citizen:
A White House spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal in an email that “there is no prohibition against taking pictures on White House grounds nor is there a government endorsement of her product, so there is no issue here.”
U.S. Office of Government Ethics press liaison Patrick Shepherd said in an email that the group does not comment on private individuals.
“OGE is committed to transparency and citizen oversight of government,” Shepherd said. “However, OGE does not respond to questions about specific individuals. The Standards of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch apply only to federal employees.”
What else is she selling?
She already has an endorsement deal and has promoted a wide range of products on social media, per the Journal:
She has several brand partnerships, including the golf brand TaylorMade Golf and the energy drink Accelerator Active Energy. She has also promoted fitness trackers, Theragun body massagers and womenswear on her social media pages.
Are Kai and Donald Trump close?
During a July Fox & Friends interview that was primarily about touting her energy-drink endorsement deal, Kai said that her grandfather has been a “really big influence” in her life.
“He taught me to just keep on working at it, and, honestly, I’ve gotten a lot better in past years with golf, but he really just taught me to keep on fighting and keep on practicing and whatnot,” she said. “I’ve loved playing golf with him my whole life. And it’s something that we share, a special bond together.”
In October, Kai posted an hourlong video of her playing with her grandfather at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.
“In the video, everyone gets to see the bond we have, especially on the golf course,” Kai said on X. “This is my favorite video I have filmed so far and holds a lot of meaning to me.”
So does she have a future in politics?
Kai recently posted a video of herself stepping up to a podium and addressing “my fellow Americans.” But it was just a promo for an energy drink:
Who knows what the future holds for the next generation of Trumps. But at the moment, Kai seems more focused on golf and golf-related moneymaking ventures.
More on the Trumps
Who Is Lara Trump? Donald’s Daughter-in-Law, ExplainedBarron Trump: A Short Guide to the President’s ‘Very Tall Son’Tiger Woods and Vanessa Trump: MAGA Dating Drama, Explained
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