President Donald Trump’s granddaughter Kai Trump delivered a stronger performance in her second round at The Annika on Friday, improving by eight strokes from her LPGA debut the day before.
Following her round, Trump said she felt more “peaceful” on Friday than she had on Thursday, a shift she credited for the improvement.
“For the first day I was definitely really nervous. I think the nerves just got to me,” she said on Friday, per Fox News. “When I went out there today, I felt very calm and peaceful, to be honest with you. That’s why I played better.
“I did everything I could possibly have done for this tournament. So, I think if you prepare right, the nerves can … they’re always going to be there, right? They can be a little softened. So, I would just say that.”
Trump’s calmer mindset appeared to make a difference. After a string of early mistakes on the third, fourth and fifth holes, she regrouped and went on to birdie three of her next six.
“Things are going to happen. Once it happens, you can’t go back in time and fix it,” she said of the triple. “The best thing I could do is move on. Like I told my caddie, Allan, kind of just started laughing. It is what it is. We got that out of the way, so let’s just move on. It was pretty easy to move on after that.”
Even with the improvement, she finished at the bottom of the 108-player field and did not make the cut for weekend play. Trump posted a two-round total of 18-over 158, leaving her 27 strokes behind leader Grace Kim (65–66) and 17 shots outside the projected cut line of one over par, Fox noted.
But Trump’s effort drew praise from women’s golf standout Charley Hull, who is a supporter of the president.
“That’s really good considering this is not just an easy LPGA event. This is probably one of the harder courses that we play on,” Hull said of Trump, per Golf Channel.
“So, for her to come out, she had to be so nervous. It was her first LPGA event. I remember my first event. I was really nervous, and she’s got a lot of pressure on her and a lot of eyes on her,” Hull added.
In early September, President Trump left the White House in golf attire and headed to his country club in Northern Virginia as rumors spread on social media that he was experiencing severe health issues.
Wearing golf shoes, black pants, a black pullover, and a white “USA” hat, he departed in an SUV and arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling shortly after 10 a.m., the New York Post reported.
“Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!” Trump wrote on Truth Social along with a photo of the former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach.
It was unclear if the photo of Trump golfing with Jon Gruden was taken on Sunday, The Post reported.
The president’s brief break from public appearances this week fueled unfounded speculation on social media that he was either seriously ill or had died – all of which was totally false and completely unfounded.
Speculation began after the White House released a blank Labor Day weekend schedule for the president. By then, it had been four days since Trump’s last public appearance — a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Hashtags like “#TrumpIsDead” and “#WhereIsTrump” trended on X during the president’s absence and blank public schedule. He was last seen the previous weekend heading to his golf club with his Kai.
