Plenty of teenagers have their own fashion brands. But only one is using the White House to market her clothes. Late last week, Kai Trump, the president’s granddaughter and an elite-level high-school golfer, launched a website where she is selling $130 cotton sweatshirts monogrammed with her initials. The 18-year-old posted a video to Instagram on Friday where she modeled the sweatshirts in black, white and navy at the White House. That same day, she and President Trump flew on Air Force One to the Ryder Cup in Farmingdale, N.Y., where Kai wore a white sweatshirt bearing her initials in blue and red. On Monday, she posted a video of her playing golf in one of her sweatshirts on the South Lawn.
“Not many people get to do this, so I’m pretty lucky,” she said in the video.
Across Trump’s two presidencies, his family members have drawn scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest. Ivanka Trump, an unpaid adviser to her father in his first term, continued to make money from a clothing line she regularly wore during White House appearances. Her husband, Jared Kushner, a former Trump adviser, runs a private-equity fund with substantial investments from leaders in Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Qatar ; he previously worked on diplomatic efforts in the region. As the Trump administration has moved to rein in regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, his sons amassed billions when their company debuted a new digital currency on the open market in September.
The daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump, Kai Trump does not hold public office and is not subject to federal ethics rules. But her clothing line is the latest example of a Trump family member using the White House to bolster their commercial pursuits.
Kai Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Her agent at the sports and entertainment marketing agency GSE Worldwide declined to comment.
A White House spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal in an email that “there is no prohibition against taking pictures on White House grounds nor is there a government endorsement of her product, so there is no issue here.”
U.S. Office of Government Ethics press liaison Patrick Shepherd said in an email that the group does not comment on private individuals.
“OGE is committed to transparency and citizen oversight of government,” Shepherd said. “However, OGE does not respond to questions about specific individuals. The Standards of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch apply only to federal employees.”
A high-school senior and the oldest of President Trump’s grandchildren, Kai plays varsity golf for the Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Fla., according to her page on the NCSA College recruitment site. She has committed to attending and playing collegiate golf at the University of Miami next year.
She has 3.3 million TikTok followers and 2.2 million followers on Instagram, where she posts selfies with the president and get-ready-with-me-videos before visiting the White House. She has several brand partnerships, including the golf brand TaylorMade Golf and the energy drink Accelerator Active Energy. She has also promoted fitness trackers , Theragun body massagers and womenswear on her social media pages.
On social media, the arrival of her brand was met with mixed responses. “A business mindset, just like the rest of the family. Respect! Go for it👏” one commenter wrote. “130 Bucks for a piece of clothing that has the initials of a 18 year old kid that’s wild,” wrote another.
Others said that Kai’s logo bore an unusual resemblance to one made for an American Eagle collaboration with Tru Kolors, the brand of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
In posts promoting her new sweatshirts this past weekend, Kai told fans an apparel brand “is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time and I’m so happy I get to finally do it.”
“Honestly, you guys could wear this out, literally anywhere,” she said. “You can wear it to dinner, working out, going to school, whatever it is. It’s a clean, simple logo. I’m super excited to see how you guys style them.”
Taking a page from her grandfather’s book, she used superlatives to describe the sweatshirts’ quality: “This is literally the best sweater material I’ve ever felt,” she said. “Ever.”
Write to Chavie Lieber at Chavie.Lieber@WSJ.com
