MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump’s 17-year-old granddaughter Kai Madison Trump said Wednesday night she wanted Americans to know “the side of my grandpa that people don’t often see” in an unscheduled addition to the speaker’s lineup at the Republican National Convention.
“To me, he’s just a normal grandpa. He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking, he always wants to know how we’re doing in school,” the Republican presidential nominee’s eldest of 10 grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren said in what her father, Donald Trump Jr., revealed was her first speech.
“When I made the high honor roll, he printed it out to show his friends how proud he was of me,” she said.
Kai Madison Trump, 17, addressed the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.REUTERS
“He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going and tells me all about his — but then I have to remind him that I’m in school and I’ll have to call him back later.”
The ex-president, 78, looked on and smiled as she spoke to a rapt audience.
“When we play golf together, if I’m not on his team, he’ll try to get inside of my head and he’s always surprised I don’t let him get to me,” Kai Madison said.
“But I have to remind him, I’m a Trump, too.”
“Even when he’s going through all these court cases, he always asks me how I’m doing,” she continued.
The ex-president’s eldest grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 told views that he was a “normal grandpa.”AFP via Getty Images
“He always encourages me to push myself to be the most successful person I can be. Obviously, he sets the bar pretty high, but who knows, maybe one day I will catch him.”
The former and potentially future first grandkid said she was stunned by the Saturday assassination attempt in which her grandfather was grazed with a bullet at a Pennsylvania rally.
Donald Trump Jr. said that his daughter’s well-received speech was her first.REUTERS
“On Saturday, I was shocked when I heard that he has been shot, and I just wanted to know if he was OK. It was heartbreaking that someone could do that to another person,” she said.
“A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell, and he’s still standing.
Trump, 78, calls while she’s at school and tries to “get in her head” on the golf course.AP
Donald Trump Jr. introduced his daughter, who was not on the RNC’s daily speaker’s list.REUTERS
“Grandpa, you are such an inspiration, and I love you,” Kai added.
“The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is. He’s very caring and loving. He truly wants the best for this country, and he will fight every single day to make America great again.”
President Biden — Trump’s Nov. 5 election rival — also has a close relationship with some of his grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren — at one point letting his eldest granddaughter Naomi live at the White House before her 2022 wedding on the executive mansion’s lawn.
Trump Jr. and his father proudly watched the speech.AP
The 81-year-old president frequently speaks about calling other grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren and often appears in public with his son Hunter’s 4-year-old Beau.
But he took heat for repeatedly saying he had only “six” grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren — implicitly denying Hunter’s out-of-wedlock daughter Navy Joan Robert, 6 — whom he ultimately recognized last year as part of the family following sustained negative press, including a column by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd urging him to acknowledge little Navy Joan.
