Donald Trump’s Granddaughter Kai Reveals the Grueling Reality of College Athlete Life and Why She Has Given Up on Social Media: “I Have No Time Outside of Golf”

Kai Trump, a University of Miami golfer and the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, leads a busy life as a college athlete with hardly any spare time on campus, returning home every weekend.

“I’ve been at home every single weekend,” Trump said in a new YouTube video that she filmed with her friend Bella. In the video, the two tested Dunkin’s new fall beverages and answered the viewers’ questions about their first weeks of college.

Kai Trump, who is 19 years old, is the daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump. She moved from her hometown in Jupiter, Florida, to Miami, where she plays for the women’s golf team of the Hurricanes. Both cities are approximately an hour and a half apart from each other by car.

“Me too,” Bella replied. “She’ll text me. She’ll be like, ‘Do you want to go home?’ I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ So, we’ll leave at like 11:00 at night, and we’ll go home.”

Weekends are a rare treat for Trump, who sees them as an opportunity to relax.

“Especially the weekend, if I really have nothing to do, and honestly, being a college athlete, I’m so tired because the whole day I’m grinding, I’m working out, I’m playing golf, and then I have classes,” she explained. “So when I go home, I feel like it’s just like vacation.”

“I like to go home and bake and cook,” Bella chimed in.

Trump invited Bella to her kitchen to bake. “You should start baking in my kitchen,” Trump suggested.

She also decided to spend at least one weekend of the upcoming weeks on campus. “My goal the next two weeks is to have at least one weekend where I don’t go home,” she said.

Bella noted that she has already spent a weekend in Miami.

“But my parents came here, so I guess it doesn’t count. Either they’re here, or I’m there,” she pointed out.

Trump remembered a funny moment when she surprised her mom. “I actually surprised my mom. She didn’t know I was coming home. She was playing tennis, and then we played doubles together. My mom was so happy.”

A 5 a.m. start

Trump described a typical day starting before sunrise.

“I wake up at 5:00 a.m. when I’m going to play golf. From like 7 to 12 golf and then 12:30ish. Sometimes it’s later, or if I want to stay later, sometimes I’ll stay till 1:00,” she said. “And then pretty much I eat lunch and then I have my classes start around like 2ish, but then my classes go until later at night.”

Bella, who is not an athlete, noted that Mondays are the hardest day for her. “I have one at 9:05, then at 10:10, and then at 11:15. Then I have a break from 12:05 to 2:30. And then I have class from 2:30 to 3:20. And then I have my lab from 6:30 to 9:20 at night,” she said. “That’s only Monday, though. So my Mondays are like terrible.”

When asked what she does for fun aside from golf, Trump said plainly. “To be honest with you, I have no time outside of golf,” she said. “I have no time really for social media right now, which sucks cuz I’m always busy.”

She also mentioned making friends in her classes and visiting the campus farmers market on Wednesdays. “I love Miami. I think the atmosphere is fun. I think students are nice,” she said. “Everything’s pretty good. Can’t complain.”

Bella noted that she joined the American Medical Student Association and recently she volunteered at a Ronald McDonald House. “We played with kids that were there,” she said. “We made bracelets with them. So that was a nice thing.”

Trump encouraged students to get involved with clubs and organizations in case they have some free time. “If you had enough time, definitely join something, just get involved,” Trump said. “Connections, especially in college, are huge.”

Classes, majors and fame

Trump said she studies management, marketing, economics, math, and an online writing class, and she might change her major. “I like econ though a lot,” she said. “I maybe think about switching to an econ major.”

Bella is majoring in psychology and takes biology, chemistry, math, and writing.

When asked if people recognize her without telling her name, Trump answered, “Yeah, sometimes it’s hit or miss.” She added that her security detail makes it “kind of hard to walk anywhere” and said, “it’s rough out there.” When asked if her security guards accompany her to classes, she said they always walk with her.

Both of the women agreed that their high school, which Trump calls “Benji,” prepared them for college coursework. Trump described the Benjamin School in South Florida as the place where she played golf before attending the University of Miami. “I think it prepared us well,” Trump said, noting that AP classes helped. “If you can take AP classes, then I would do it.”

Life on the team

Trump said that her teammates are the best thing about college.

“My favorite part of college so far honestly is having my team,” she said. “I think my college experience would be so much different if I didn’t have such a good team.”

“We work with each other every single day for multiple hours, and we hang out,” she said. “We always get dinner together. We hang out outside of golf, and it’s not forced. We all want to hang out.”

She attributed her coach, Janice, with creating the team spirit. Janice Olivencia is the head coach of the Miami women’s golf team.

Trump explained how players earn their spots in tournaments. “Our coaches make us qualify for five or six spots, and then whoever gets the top five, they then travel with the team,” she said. “So it makes it fair. You always got to compete for your spot.”

She also said that the structured practice helped her improve her skills.

“I feel like I’ve improved so much as a player in the first month of being here because of the structured practice, and everything revolves around golf and school,” she said. “So it’s like I’m disciplined.” She added that coaches track statistics in practice and qualifying rounds, so “everything’s backed up with numbers, which is nice.”

Her favorite snack is simple.

“My go-to snack has really been white rice with soy sauce,” she said. She also praised the athletes’ nutrition room: “I love a good Rice Krispie and fruit snack before I work out. That’s like my new pre-workout meal.”

Adjusting to independence

Trump mentioned the biggest surprise as the independence of students. “If you need help, you have to ask and be persistent. Everyone says you’re on your own, but you don’t realize it till you’re actually on your own.”

“You have no one telling you to wake up in the morning to go to class,” Bella said. “You decide to go to class.”

Trump also said that she learned to use study materials. She mentioned taking an economics test on that day and that 15 out of 20 multiple-choice questions were on the study guide. “Use your resources,” she reminded. “They would not give it to you if there was no reason.”

Her advice for high school seniors: “Honestly, don’t slack off.” She admitted she procrastinated her senior year despite finishing with mostly straight A’s. “If you can start that habit at senior year in high school, then it will carry on to college,” she said.

Trump mentioned that her new apartment became one of the highlights of her college life. “Now that I have my own apartment, I love living on my own. I love living in Miami too,” she said. She recently showed her fans a tour of her apartment, which includes a big kitchen, a fireplace, an office, and a walk-in closet.

The two also talked about their first game of Hurricanes football. “It was amazing. I had a great time,” Trump said. “They’re really good. That’s what makes it fun when you have a good football team.”

A rocky start on the course

This fun video comes as Trump had a hard time adapting to her new environment at college. She made her college debut at the Golfweek Fall Challenge at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in South Carolina, playing as an individual after surgery on her left wrist earlier this year, and started with a 7-over-par 78. She finished 102nd out of 120 players and later said that she re-injured her wrist and needed additional treatment. She’s expected to return at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational that is scheduled for Oct. 16-18 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Moving to the college was also difficult emotionally. In an earlier YouTube video, she broke down in tears while saying goodbye to her family in Jupiter, and a case of strep throat caused her to go home for several days.

Trump concluded the video with a birthday wish to Bella, reminding the viewers that her friend turns a year older tomorrow, on the 26th. “Guys, I have class in 8 minutes,” she said.