Kai Trump has grown up surrounded by properties most people will only ever see in photographs. As Donald Trump’s eldest granddaughter, her family life has included time at Mar-a-Lago, Trump golf clubs and, since her grandfather’s return to the presidency, visits to the White House.
But when Kai began her freshman year at the University of Miami this fall, she moved into a home of her own.
And she decided to show everyone around.
In a September 5 video, Kai opened the door to the Miami apartment where she is living while playing for the university’s women’s golf team. Rather than sharing a traditional freshman dorm, she has a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment to herself, complete with a modern kitchen, living room, separate office, fireplace, ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet. (Page Six)
Yet Kai herself never pretended this was an ordinary freshman setup.
“I’m very, very lucky to have this obviously as a freshman,” she admitted while showing viewers around. “It’s amazing. I love it.” (AOL.com)
And the 30 photos from this new chapter reveal a curious mixture of privilege and surprisingly ordinary college life.
PHOTOS 1–3 — Kai begins a completely different chapter
For years, many of the most recognizable photographs of Kai have shown her beside her grandfather, particularly on golf courses. Now the focus is shifting toward a life increasingly separate from the rest of the Trump family.
Her decision to attend Miami wasn’t random. Golf is central to it. Kai joined the Hurricanes women’s golf program and has said that the demands of being a student-athlete leave considerably less time for Miami nightlife than people might imagine.
“I’m here for golf, I’m not here to party in Miami,” she explained. (AOL.com)
The apartment has become the quiet place she returns to when those long days are finished.
PHOTOS 4–6 — The first look inside her apartment
Kai begins her tour in the kitchen, and almost immediately admits that it is her favorite room.
Her explanation is considerably less glamorous than the surroundings.
She likes it because she “eat[s] a lot.”
The kitchen has white countertops, stainless-steel appliances and extensive cabinetry, with a long counter and seating separating it from the living area. (Page Six)
It is sleek and expensive-looking, certainly, but not ostentatious. There are no gold fixtures or elaborate Trump-family design touches. The palette throughout the apartment is largely white and neutral.
PHOTOS 7–9 — The kitchen Kai calls her favorite place
One of the first personal touches Kai points out is a black-and-white photograph of ski gondolas in Aspen.
“We got Aspen gondolas cause I love skiing. I love Aspen,” she explained.
Then she proudly added a very freshman-apartment detail:
“I actually hung that up myself.” (OK! Magazine)
It is an amusing collision of two worlds: hanging your first piece of apartment artwork yourself is about as ordinary a moving-out milestone as possible. Having that artwork commemorate how much you enjoy Aspen is somewhat less so.
PHOTOS 10–12 — Her living room has one feature she absolutely loves
From the kitchen, Kai moves into a living room built around a large white sofa and television.
There is artwork of the New York skyline on the wall, another reminder of the places that have surrounded her upbringing.
But her favorite feature isn’t the television or furniture.
It is the fireplace.
“Got my fireplace, which is, like, I think, the coolest part of this,” she says during the tour. (AOL.com)
The modern faux fireplace is surrounded by LED lighting, adding a little personality to an otherwise extremely neutral room.
And then comes the detail that really separates this place from most freshman apartments.
There is an entire second bedroom.
Kai doesn’t need it for a roommate.
PHOTOS 13–15 — The second bedroom became her private office
Instead, Kai turned the apartment’s second bedroom into an office.
There is a desk and ergonomic chair for studying, along with a sofa where she can relax. She described it simply as the room where she will do her homework. (OK! Magazine)
The décor becomes much more personal here.
Among the photographs on the walls is one showing Kai with Donald Trump on a golf course.
“Got this photo of me and grandpa in here,” she says while showing it to the camera. (Irish Star)
For all the political meaning Donald Trump carries outside the family, Kai has repeatedly presented their relationship in much simpler terms.
Golf is their thing.
PHOTOS 16–18 — Her bond with her grandfather is all over the apartment
Kai and Donald Trump have been photographed playing golf together for years.
She has said that the sport helped shape their relationship and even influenced her college decision.
“Me and him are very close, and we bond over golf,” she previously explained. She said her grandfather liked her choice of Miami partly because Trump National Doral is nearby. (Irish Star)
That makes the framed golf photograph in her office feel less like presidential memorabilia and more like what it actually appears to be for Kai: a picture of herself with her grandfather doing something they both love.
Her office also contains reminders of another part of her increasingly public life — her online audience.
Kai has displayed creator awards recognizing the following she built before college. (OK! Magazine)
PHOTOS 19–21 — Then comes her private bedroom
The bedroom continues the apartment’s restrained look.
A large white bed dominates the room, accompanied by simple matching furniture.
But this is where the difference between Kai’s home and a traditional freshman dorm becomes especially obvious.
Her bedroom has its own ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet. (Page Six)
There is also a separate guest bathroom elsewhere in the apartment.
In other words, Kai has two bathrooms for one resident.
And she is very aware of how unusual that is.
PHOTOS 22–24 — Living alone may be the luxury she appreciates most
Interestingly, when Kai talks about what she loves most, she doesn’t dwell on the closet or the number of bathrooms.
She talks about silence.
“It’s really nice coming home to no one,” she said.
After spending long days on the golf course, she explained, she enjoys returning home and simply doing nothing. (Page Six)
For the oldest of five siblings — and a young woman whose family life can involve politicians, cameras and presidential security — living completely alone is a new experience.
She has described it as “crazy.”
But she has also admitted that independence hasn’t been as emotionally easy as she expected.
PHOTOS 25–27 — Before she moved in, there were tears
Before viewers saw the polished apartment tour, Kai documented the considerably messier emotional reality of leaving home.
In her August 29 vlog, she cried while talking about having to say goodbye to the people she loved.
“I’m not a very emotional person at all, so this is like really weird for me to cry,” she admitted. “I think knowing that I have to say goodbye to everyone tonight really, really sucks.” (Page Six)
That makes the later apartment video feel slightly different.
The new home isn’t merely something expensive she was given.
For Kai, it represents the first place where she is actually living independently from her family.
And despite technically moving away, she hasn’t gone very far.
She still returns to Jupiter when her schedule allows because her trainers, coaches and much of her golf equipment remain there. (The US Sun)
PHOTOS 28–30 — College for Kai is really about golf
The apartment may be generating headlines, but Kai says her reason for being in Miami is straightforward.
Golf.
Her schedule can begin extraordinarily early. While filming the apartment tour, she said she was preparing for a 5 a.m. qualifying day and considering vlogging it. (AOL.com)
She has barely explored Miami because the sport takes up so much of her time.
“When you’re a student-athlete, that makes it hard,” she explained. “I haven’t really explored Miami yet because I’m so busy with the golf.” (Page Six)
The photographs of Kai on a golf course therefore tell more of the story than photographs of the apartment alone.
This is the life she came to Miami to pursue.
So Is Her Apartment Really “Normal”?
That depends entirely on the comparison.
Against Mar-a-Lago, the White House and the luxury properties associated with the Trump family, Kai’s new home can look remarkably understated.
Against the average freshman dorm?
Not so much.
She lives alone in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. One bedroom has become an office. Her bedroom has an ensuite and walk-in closet. There is a modern kitchen, fireplace and plenty of room to spread out. (OK! Magazine)
The online response has consequently split almost perfectly down the middle.
Some commenters have criticized the apartment as evidence of how detached wealthy families can be from the financial reality facing ordinary college students. Others have argued that the home is relatively restrained given Kai’s family wealth and that privacy or security considerations could make dormitory living complicated.
That latter explanation remains speculation unless Kai or her family confirms it. (AOL.com)
Kai herself has offered a much less defensive response.
She knows she is fortunate.
“I’m very lucky I have this apartment,” she said. “It’s amazing. I love it.” (AOL.com)
And perhaps that is the fairest way to describe the 30 photographs.
They don’t show an “average” freshman experience.
They show something more unusual: a young woman from one of America’s most famous families trying to create a private, relatively ordinary corner of her life — while acknowledging that even her version of ordinary comes with privileges most college freshmen will never have.
For Kai, though, the apartment seems to represent something more important than luxury.
It is hers.
“Life has been crazy,” she said, “but it’s nice to have my own stuff and to, you know, live on my own and start my next chapter in my life.” (Irish Star)
For more personal stories that take unexpected turns, read about the woman who grabbed her husband’s things from the ER nurse and then couldn’t move, or the husband who learned his wife hid something for forty years. You might also be interested in the story of a woman whose husband laughed when she called from the hospital floor.
