Kai Trump Gets Emotional Over Leaving Mom Vanessa for College Amid Cancer Battle

Kai Trump is just beginning her freshman year at the University of Miami, but the 19-year-old golfer says the days leading up to college were the most emotional.

According to a report Fox News Digital published on Tuesday, August 18, Kai and her mother, Vanessa Trump, shared an emotional send-off in the days before move-in. “There was definitely, there was a lot of crying in like the week leading up,” Kai said. “We would just be driving, and then we’d just start crying together.”

Vanessa, who shares Kai and four other children — Donald “Donny” III, 17, Tristan, 14, Spencer, 13, and Chloe, 12 — with ex-husband Donald Trump Jr., has been dating controversial professional golfer Tiger Woods since 2024.

On campus, Kai is already bonded with her golf team and enjoyed her marketing class, and she isn’t ruling out a surprise visit from grandfather President Donald Trump at a future tournament. “Who knows, maybe grandpa will come by if he has some time,” she said, per the report. “He’s quite busy, but we’ll see.”

For Kai and Vanessa, the emotions surrounding move-in came on the heels of an already challenging summer. In May, Vanessa announced she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer and had begun mapping out treatment with her medical team. She underwent surgery that June and moved into the next phase of care shortly after, per the outlet.

Rather than pull the two apart, Kai said her mother’s diagnosis unexpectedly drew them closer over the summer. Per the report, she called it a “blessing in disguise,” adding, “I was able to spend extra time with her that I would normally probably spend on the golf course. It was nice to spend those extra hours with her throughout the day before going to college.”

Kai confirmed that Vanessa’s health has been improving. “My mom, she’s doing a lot better,” she said, per the report. “Kind of after treatment, she wasn’t feeling very good. Just like how treatment will make you feel … but she’s getting a lot better now.”

According to the article, choosing a school within driving distance of home has made the adjustment less daunting for Kai. “I know if I called her at a random time she would be here in a heartbeat,” she said. “So it’s very sweet, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter.”