(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The New York Times and other anti-Trump activists have found a new target in Kai Trump, the teenage granddaughter of the president, after she received a spot in the LPGA’s Annika tournament.
The Times chose Thursday to highlight a manufactured controversy for the invitation, despite the long-standing and understood purpose of sponsor-invitations: to spotlight emerging players and bring new attention to women’s golf.
Indeed, The Times accused the golf association of inviting Kai “because of her last name and massive social media following,” adding that there was “no belief by those who handed her a golden ticket that she could compete against the actual best women’s golfers in the world.”
I will be making my LPGA Tour debut in November at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican! See you November 10-16 – at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL. Visit https://t.co/iUuh3w1b47 @theannikalpga @ANNIKA59 @LPGA for more information. pic.twitter.com/mmqVfMFukD
— Kai Trump (@kaitrump) October 28, 2025
The outlet then went further, scolding the teenager by suggesting she should have declined the invitation, lecturing that “just because you can does not mean you should.”
Several other outlets echoed The Times’s framing.
To their point, young Kai did finish last in Sunday’s tournament—shooting an 83, which is 13 over par.
However, others noted how the high schooler put an unprecedented spotlight on an otherwise obscure sport.
Tournament host Annika Sorenstam’s husband, Mike McGee, called out the targeted attacks during their SiriusXM show.
“For anybody that says (Trump) doesn’t deserve to be there, I think it’s crazy,” he said. “The idea is to highlight women’s golf, and she’s going to do it to a diverse crowd of millions more people that would tune in (who) otherwise wouldn’t tune in.”
Sorenstam also defended the decision, explaining that a brand sponsor selected Kai.
18-year-old Kai Trump shoots a 13-over 83 in her LPGA debut. pic.twitter.com/4VWQumyEtu
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 13, 2025
“I’m excited to have [Trump], too, and like you [McGee] said, this is a sponsor’s invite,” Sorenstam said on the show. “The sponsor gets to choose who they want to pick that would add to the tournament in different ways.”
The LPGA also welcomed Kai’s participation, with top officer Ricki Lasky saying that sponsor invitations are “an important way to spotlight emerging talent and bring new attention to our tournaments and the LPGA.”
Kai, Eric Trump’s oldest daughter, has played golf through most of her teenage years and has already committed to the University of Miami’s women’s golf program for next year.
