In the first of a new series of golfing videos posted online by President Trump’s granddaughter, an experienced player shares some advice for anyone who would like to improve their game.
You may play better if you do not concentrate too intensely on your stance, your swing and your follow through, but occupy your mind with other subjects, the video suggests.
“I think about other things,” President Trump says. “Like Russia, China, right?” His granddaughter Kai, agrees. “I think about other things and I do better,” she says.
Donald Trump with his granddaughter Kai at the Trump National golf course in Washington DC
Kai, 18, who is in her final year at a private high school in Miami, is the daughter of Donald Trump Jr and his former wife Vanessa, who is now dating Tiger Woods. She has 3.4 million followers on TikTok, a golf scholarship to attend the University of Miami next year and a line of branded sweaters that cost $130.
Kai first stepped onto the public stage at the Republican National Convention in 2024, where she is said to have asked to speak, at the last moment, in the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life, in Butler, Pennsylvania. She was introduced by her father.
“He’s just a normal grandpa,” she said. “He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking. He always wants to know how we’re doing in school. When I made the high honour roll, he printed it out to show his friends.”
Kai with her father Donald Trump Jr after speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2024
TANNEN MAURY/SHUTTERSTOCK
She has developed a special relationship with him because of her love of golf: this has led to them spending hours together. “He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going, and tells me all about his, but then I have to remind him that I’m in school and I’ll have to call him back later,” she said at the convention. “When we play golf together, if I’m not on his team, he’ll try to get inside of my head. And he is always surprised that I don’t let him get to me, but I have to remind him I’m a Trump too.”
She began posting golf videos and footage of herself at Mar-a-Lago on election night, at her grandfather’s inauguration, or imitating his dance aboard Air Force One. For a while Elon Musk made appearances in these clips, in which, like a rocket passing a critical stage of its ascent, he was said to be reaching “uncle status”.
She is credited with softening Trump’s image, presenting him to millions of teenagers, though like other members of Trump’s family, she is also seen to be profiting from her position in the clan. She promoted her “KT Signature Pullover Sweatshirt” collection in a video where she chipped balls onto a White House lawn green and stood under the steady gaze of President Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.
Kai showcasing her “KT Signature Pullover Sweatshirt” collection
Kai attends the Benjamin School, which has a golf team that also includes Charlie Woods, the son of Tiger Woods. In July she finished third at a two-day tournament, after shooting four birdies. She then made an appearance on Fox News, to discuss her game.
She has now launched a series titled 1 on 1 with Kai in which she plays the Trump National in Washington DC with her first guest, the president. They set out at the head of a convoy of golf buggies, accompanied by caddies, a camera crew and a huge contingent of secret service officers. Trump discloses that his favourite colour is red, that he does not get nervous on the first tee, and that he is installing new marble floors in the White House. He also tells her that he has stopped seven wars. “Hopefully we get Putin and Zelensky to stop killing everybody,” he says.
He also does his best to dispel rumours about his health, saying they ought to play the back nine too. “If we only play nine, they will say: ‘Oh, something’s wrong with him,” he claims.
Viewers of the video on YouTube over the weekend were shown advertisements for health products and, unexpectedly, a fundraising video by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, his longtime adversary, apparently made before his Department of Justice began prosecuting her for an alleged error on mortgage forms relating to a property she owns in Virginia. She asks viewers to support “democracy and the rule of law”.
Kai asks her grandfather in the golf buggy whether he still has dreams and ambitions. “You are asking questions like a TV company,” Trump replies. “You want to be a great president,” he says at last, before adding: “I don’t think I will ever play golf any better than I play.”