Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Kai Trump making her LPGA debut

 

Kai Trump, the president's granddaughter, is making her LPGA debut this week. Here’s what you need to know


/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2024/Kai-Trump-filter.jpg
By Ryan Herrington
November 10, 2025
Save for later

You don’t have to look any further than Instagram to understand why the most notable player at this week’s LPGA Tour event isn’t one of the top women’s professionals in the field, but rather an 18-year-old high school senior with a famous last name.

Kai Trump, granddaughter of the President of the United States, is listed on the social-media platform as having 2.5 million followers. To give that some context, Jeeno Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Miyu Yamashita, Lydia Ko and Minjee Lee, the top five women’s professionals in the latest Rolex Rankings, have 1.76 million followers … combined.

Bringing attention to the tournament is what sponsor’s exemptions generally aim to do, and it is among the reasons officials with The Annika driven by Gainbridge extended Trump an invitation to make her first start in an LPGA event this week at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.

“Kai’s broad following and reach are helping introduce golf to new audiences, especially among younger fans,” said Ricki Lasky, LPGA Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer, in a release last month. “We’re excited to see her take this next step in her journey, and we’re proud to work closely with our partners in Tampa Bay whose continued commitment to advancing the women’s game helps elevate the LPGA and expand its visibility.”

More From Golf Digest

LPGA
New LPGA commissioner makes bold move, partnering with Golf Saudi for new event in 2026
LPGA
LPGA gives rare age waiver to teen phenom, clearing way for her to turn pro
LPGA
President Trump's granddaughter to make LPGA debut

Whether this is the appropriate next step in her journey, however, is the question many have asked in the wake of the announcement. Trump, who is set to play college golf at Miami next fall, currently ranks 461st in the AJGA Rolex Junior Rankings. (In the Universal Golf Rankings, she's 1,083rd, and in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings, she's 1,288th.) Her scoring average in three AJGA starts in 2025 is 83.6. She has not qualified to play in a USGA event, and in arguably the most prestigious event she has played in up until now, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, she finished in last place by 22 shots with rounds of 89-79-83-89.

As Trump prepares to make her first start in a professional event, here’s what you need to know:

How did Kai Trump get picked to play in the event?

The tournament is given three sponsor’s exemptions, with each stakeholder in the event able to use one. Annika Sorenstam, the tournament’s namesake, picked Wake Forest senior Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, who played for the winning Demon Deacons at the 2025 Annika Intercollegiate. Gainbridge chose Lauryn Nguyen, who played on the Northwestern women’s team that won the NCAA title last May. And Pelican’s owner, Dan Doyle and family, invited Trump.

Is there another reason why some are upset that Kai Trump is playing this week?

This week's LPGA event is the second-to-last tournament on the 2025 calendar and the last chance for LPGA members to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship. Only the top 60 in the CME points list after The Annika will play in next week's season-finale, where the overall purse is $11 million, the winner earns $4 million and last place is good for $55,000. Given what's on the line, having Trump make her debut in this event is poorly times, according to some critics.

Where does Kai Trump go to school?

Trump attends The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Fla. That’s the same private high school where Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie, goes to class and plays golf. In March, Tiger Woods confirmed on social media that he was in a relationship with Kai Trump’s mother, Vanessa.

2200015424

Kai Trump and Tiger Woods arrive to the course during the final round of The Genesis Invitational in February.

Michael Owens

Who will caddie for Kai Trump at The Annika?

According to Brentley Romine of GolfChannel.com, Allan Kournikova will be her caddie this week. If that name sounds familiar it is because he’s the younger brother of former tennis sensation Anna Kournikova and was also a subject in the Netflix documentary, “The Short Game,” about junior golf prodigies. Kournikova is 21 and is friends and frequent golf partners with Trump.

Does Kai Trump have an NIL deal?

With 2.5 million followers on Instagram (and 9 million total between YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and X accounts, you better believe she does. According to Beth Ann Baldry at Golfweek, Trump is represented by GSE Worldwide, whose clients include Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson. She has a deal in place with TaylorMade and Accelerator Active Energy, and she debuted her own clothing line in September.

Will President Trump attend the tournament?

No plans for President Trump to watch in person have been made public.

Share story
 
Watch Now - Creating the Course - The Ultimate Design Project






Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Another Day, Another AfD Ban

 Another Day, Another AfD Ban | Today on EuroCon

 

 

Tuesday 11 November



Driving the day... 

Another day, another threat to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD). Last weekend, German federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave a speech that indirectly accused the AfD—the second-largest party in the Budestag—of extremism, antisemitism, and threatening the democratic order. Such parties, Steinmeier argued, must be banned. 

This is the argument that has regularly been made by the German political establishment—that the state should outlaw the right-wing party in order to ‘save’ democracy. Thankfully, this time, politicians outside the AfD are speaking out against this authoritarian move. The Free Democrats’ Wolfgang Kubicki told the media that Steinmeier’s suggestion that the AfD was at all similar to the Nazis was "inappropriate," “ahistorical,” and an “outrage.” Sahra Wagenknecht of the left-populist BSW similarly accused the president of “political stupidity.” 

It’s positive that more mainstream political figures are recognising the idiocy of banning the AfD. This is a party that performed astonishingly well in the last elections and continues to dominate the polls. As much as Germany’s managerial state would like it to be the case, you cannot simply outlaw a party because you disagree with its beliefs. And, ironically, threatening to do so is only likely to bolster the AfD’s popularity. Criminalising your opponent does not mean you win the argument.   

By Lauren Smith




https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/steinmeier-berates-afd-speaks-of-ban-backlash-gift-to-afd/?mc_cid=83e7967e14&mc_eid=3cbf6e7152

The federal president was trying to damage the AfD, but is likely to have bolstered the party’s support instead.




Even Non-AfD Officials Agree Steinmeier’s Allusion to a Ban Is Ridiculous



German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gives a speech on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin on November 9, 2025.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gives a speech on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin on November 9, 2025.

Maryam Majd / POOL / AFP

AfD officials have, of course, been up in arms about the German federal president’s use of the significant November 9th speech to accuse the ever-rising opposition of extremism, antisemitism, and of wanting to overthrow the democratic order. The party’s Bremen branch has, for example, berated Frank-Walter Steinmeier for his “political instrumentalisation of the office,” which is supposed to be impartial and to represent the “nation’s conscience” (yeah, right!).

But it has been impressive to see plenty of figures outside the party—including a good handful of its opponents—also come out against Steinmeier’s incendiary remarks.

Not least among these has been FDP (Free Democratic Party) politician Wolfgang Kubicki, who told broadcasters that the president’s allusions to alleged similarities between the AfD and the Nazis, no less, were not only “inappropriate,” but also “ahistorical” and an “outrage.”

Sahra Wagenknecht of the left-nationalist BSW also accused Steinmeier of “political stupidity,” although she did argue that “this is not abuse of office.” Wagenknecht said the ‘firewall’ policy preventing establishment cooperation with the AfD had done nothing to improve Germany’s political situation and has actually helped the party to grow.

That should have reached even the federal president.

Instead, he seems to believe that an outright ban is the only way forward.

Journalist Nena Brockhaus described this as “a slap in the face to every AfD voter,” but added that such divisive rhetoric will actually further help the opposition in the long run.

Instead of bringing people together, Steinmeier is banking on division. The speech was a Christmas present to the AfD, which can now once again assume the victim role.

Not that the president’s speech garnered no support. Green Party officials predictably hailed his comments as “absolutely right” because “there must be no cooperation with right-wing extremists under any circumstances!”

But on the whole, even mainstream figures appear to be getting their heads around the fact that more and more voters are putting their faith in the AfD, and that attempts to do the party down often have the opposite effect.

Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.











Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)