Meet Donald Trump's Eldest Granddaughter, Kai Trump

Americans have seen a lot of Kai Madison Trump, who's been frequently captured by paparazzi lenses at family gatherings and whistle stops during Donald Trump's 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns; but until recently, they knew little about the teen. Many are aware that Kai is the eldest grandchild of the former Commander in Chief and the oldest sibling of five fathered by controversial corporate CEO Donald Trump Jr., but beyond that, details have been scarce. That all changed on July 18, 2024, at the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee, where the floor opened for Kai, who ignored all the contention surrounding the former president and instead presented an earthier portrayal of her grandfather.

Kai's speech touched the thousands in attendance, and the millions gathered around their flat screens. Her flattering assessment of someone she only addresses as "Grandpa" stood apart from the mudslinging frequently lobbed from the podium throughout the convention. And almost immediately, everyone wanted to know more about the Trump progeny whom the Daily Mail declared as "the next MAGA golden girl." 

So far, they've received a few morsels, such as her fondness for pumpkin spice lattes, pickleball, scuba diving, and spending time with friends and family. Hoping to become a golf pro, Kai has suggested a more profound personal directive. "I always aspire to be a leader and a positive figure on and off the golf course," she said per SportsRecruits.com, demonstrating that, in some ways, she's cut from the same cloth as her grandfather. 

Kai Trump was born in New York City on May 12, 2007, to parents Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump, who had married two years earlier. Once she entered the world, the couple decided to name her Kai in recognition of Danish jazz musician Kai Ewans, who was Vanessa's father. Don Jr. working as an executive vice president for The Trump Organization meant that Kai — who'd later be joined by sister Chloe and brothers Donald III, Tristan, and Spencer — enjoyed a pretty privileged lifestyle.

But life as a Trump wasn't all smooth, especially after her parents split up in 2018 and eventually divorced the following year, partly due to an alleged affair between Don Jr. and singer Aubrey O'Day becoming public. One point the couple agreed on was that Kai and her siblings would be well taken care of. "We have five beautiful children together and they remain our top priority," said the divorced Trumps in a joint statement (per The Hollywood Reporter). 

For her part, Kai had never talked about the divorce or its repercussions, although she seemed to enjoy life with her mother and the rest of the kids after relocating to Jupiter, Florida, when she was 13. The fact Don Jr. continued to help his ex-wife support the youngsters while remaining cordial to his ex at home and in public also seemed to mitigate the sting of the marital breakup.

Members of her extended family will quickly attest that Kai Trump is easily the best golfer in their gene pool, but her skill set on the links doesn't stop at her pedigree. Kai is on track to become a professional golfer, and if her numbers are any indication, she'd very likely be quite a formidable one at that. 

Her handicap index is an astonishing 0.03, nearly three points better than that of Tiger Woods's son Charlie, another promising upstart. She can already drive a dimpled ball 275 yards down the fairway, an average that only 14 LPGA players managed to achieve during tournaments in 2023. She's also won her share of tournaments, many of which Donald Trump sanctioned, including a ladies' championship at her grandfather's West Palm Beach course in 2022 when she was only 14. And even though Kai is still an amateur, she's already nailed a sponsorship with golf supplier Callaway.

It certainly helps to have a famous grandfather who's a former U.S. president and real estate mogul who owns 18 golf courses worldwide, including 3 in Florida. Golfing since she was 2 years old, Kai has set her sights on turning pro. "I've been thinking about it, and it's definitely a huge goal to look forward to and to work towards," she said in her own YouTube video. "I definitely want to do it one day, and I've been working very hard right now, so hopefully, one day, it'll pay off."

In truth, Kai Trump would much rather be teeing off on a fairway than sitting in a classroom. Yet that aversion to primary education hasn't stopped her from getting decent marks. "I don't like school, but I'm good at school," she said on the "Grant Horvat Golf" podcast. When classes at the exclusive Benjamin School were finished for the summer in 2024, Kai made the honor roll, an achievement that she said pleased her grandfather, Donald Trump, so much that he printed out the document featuring her academic standing to share with everyone he knew.

That said, her scholastic experience has included much more than generating decent report cards. Kai was also involved in three clubs and even became team captain of the school's varsity golf team during her second year at Benjamin. Good thing she's made the most of her experience at the elite prep school, which costs up to $37,000 for a student to attend annually. 

Although she's not expected to graduate until 2026, several colleges have already been trying to recruit her. While she's attracted by the idea of getting into a post-secondary institution via a golf sponsorship, Kai doesn't have a dream college in mind at the moment. "That's a tough one," she said to Horvat. "I don't know ... Whatever has the best academics that I could possibly get into. [That would] be a dream for me."

Kai Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention clocked in at under three minutes, but it was enough for her to cast a positive impression on the hordes who packed Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum and sat in rapt adoration of the young speaker. Wearing a white cutout dress with metallic silver stilettos, Kai made the most of her first public speech designed to show a more human side of her grandfather, Donald Trump. She shared several anecdotes about him, from offering goodies beyond the watchful eyes of her parents to the frequent calls and texts between them to chat about golf. 

In short, she diverted from the media portrayals of the former president as a dictator and convicted felon who was twice impeached and once tried to overthrow a federal election. "A lot of people put him through hell and he's still standing," she added, per PBS, as the convention floor erupted into cheers.

Kai recalled having some trepidation on the day she was about to present her speech when she realized the impact her words might have on the delegates and supporters. "When I was flying to Milwaukee, I'm like, "Uh-oh, like this is real," and like beforehand, I wasn't really nervous," she recalled on the "Grant Horvat Golf" podcast. "Because I always walk into things. I'm like, 'Yeah, this going to be light work; this is going to be easy.' It was not easy."

The main message Kai Trump wanted to deliver to the masses at the Republican National Convention was that she didn't view her grandfather, former president Donald Trump, as a divisive politician but as a real human being. "To me, he's just a normal grandpa," she said at the podium, per PBS. "He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren't looking. He always wants to know how we're doing in school." Kai then proceeded to run off a series of anecdotes about how closely the two have bonded, such as the frequent occasions he would call her during school to talk about golf. 

But when the two break out the clubs, she said the kids' gloves would come off. "When we played golf together and I'm not on his team, he'll try to get inside of my head," she noted. "And he's always surprised that I don't let him get to me. But I have to remind him I'm a Trump, too."

For someone who's been exposed to a more personable side of a controversial political figure, this is something Kai has frequently struggled with, especially when she comes across news reports that are hardly complimentary of him. "I spend a lot of time with him and, like, seeing what the news puts in his image and whatever it is, that's not really him," she said during an interview on Fox News. "So it's frustrating when you see people putting an image on him that he's not."

Like many others, Kai Trump was dismayed over the news that her famous grandfather was nearly assassinated while campaigning in Pennsylvania, an incident she wanted to bring up in her RNC speech. "On Saturday, I was shocked when I heard that he has been shot," she said, per PBS. "And I just wanted to know if he was okay. It was heartbreaking that someone would do that to another person."

Later, while on Fox News, she recalled getting the news about her grandfather while fishing with friends and family when her father's cell phone rang endlessly. "And then the news broke," Kai said during an interview with Sean Hannity. "And no one knew for 90 minutes what was really going on. And all I knew is he was shot, and that was it. It was scary. It was really scary. Like, I wish no one would go through that, ever."

In fact, Kai wasn't even scheduled to speak at the RNC until after she found out her grandfather survived the shooting. That's when she approached her dad, Donald Trump Jr., to see if she could put something together to share with the delegates. One phone call later, she was on the itinerary. "I called my dad and asked, 'Can I give her some of my time?'" said Don Jr. on Fox News. "And he goes, 'Yeah, but that kid's a winner and she'll do great.' And she did."

A day after her highly publicized speech from the RNC stage, Kai Trump was teased by Fox News host Sean Hannity about the likelihood her appearance would lead to a political future. "I think you've made it into the family business," he said to the teen. "I think you passed the litmus test." Kai didn't respond, instead smiling throughout the op-ed star's assessment. "You might want to say, 'I'm sorry,"' humorously interjected her aunt, Lara Trump, providing Kai with a quick exit strategy from that part of the interview.

Before her speech, viewers would have been very hard-pressed to find any hints leaning toward political statements in Kai's social media posts and the scant number of interviews she's conducted. Kai's inclusion of the slogan "Make America Great Again" in her speech appeared to have been added more out of family loyalty than jump-starting her grandfather's Republican base. On the podcast that bears his name, golfer Grant Horvath asked Kai whether she had any public office aspirations. "I just stay out of that and focus on golf," she responded.

However, Style suggested that one part of her speech indicated that she might consider a political career. "He always encourages me to push myself to be the most successful person I can be," she said about her grandfather at the RNC, per PBS. "Obviously, he sets the bar pretty high, but who knows, maybe one day I'll catch him."

Kai Trump's decision to speak about her grandfather at the RNC just days after he survived an assassination attempt looked like a fit for Republican plans to cast the former president's image in a softer light. The strategy seemed to work, according to one left-leaning pundit, who contrasted Kai's touching tribute against the fiery bluster of her father, Donald Trump Jr. "The granddaughter came out and opened up our hearts, and the son just hit us upside the head with the baseball bat," said CNN contributor Van Jones, per Newsweek. "So I'm not sure which way they're going, but that young lady did her job of warming him up, humanizing him. Making people feel that they can actually like this guy."

However, Whoopi Goldberg, herself no stranger to controversy, was far more dubious about Kai's purpose at the convention. "I know his grandchild was up on the thing and they're trying to humanize him and change your idea about who this guy is," she said on "The View." "Don't fall for that." Those comments reverberated worldwide, prompting Sky News Australia news personality Rita Panahi to declare Goldberg's remarks "deplorable."

Meanwhile, op-ed writer John Mulholland claimed that Kai's presence was "part of a politically calculated makeover" during the convention. "Kai was just the latest recruit to the Trump Family Cult, a political dynasty which has taken shape in earnest this week at the RNC," he wrote in The Daily Beast.

Once Kai Trump concluded her speech on the third day of the RNC, viewers soon went online to find out more about Donald Trump's eldest granddaughter. As a result, with Google was 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. But those hoping for images exhibiting the extravagant life of America's new favorite Trump girl might have been disappointed, as the vast majority of her content is golf-related. Conversely, the numbers on her YouTube channel, which contained only two videos released in 2023, jumped only marginally.

Kai has also spawned a legion of fans on TikTok, many of whom have included videos of her emblazoned with fawning descriptors like "All American Girl" and "All Heart Beautiful American Granddaughter." Even days after her speech, Kai seemed rather reserved about the pandemonium, as if determined to prevent the RNC experience from getting to her head. "I'm still very grounded from it, so I mean, for me, it's just like it's all I've known my whole life," she said during the "Grant Horvat Golf" podcast. "I fit in with everyone else, like you would not know at all, and that's the way I like to keep it. Like even now, my phone's been blowing up ever since the RNC. That's not going to change who I am."