Kai Trump, the 18-year-old granddaughter of PresidentDonald Trump, is facing a torrent of online criticism after posting a YouTube vlog of herself shopping at Erewhon, the high-end Los Angeles grocery chain, with her Secret Service detail in tow.
The nearly 19-minute video, uploaded on 8 March and originally titled 'I Brought My Secret Service to Erewhon,' showed theaspiring professional golfersampling a $22 (£17.50) Hailey Bieber-inspired smoothie and purchasing a $128 (£102) Erewhon-branded sweatshirt. Her total bill came to $233 (£185). She joked to the camera that she was 'about to go bankrupt' and would need to 'file for bankruptcy,' according toThe Daily Beast, which first reported the backlash. The video was later quietly renamed 'I Tried the World's Most Expensive Grocery Store.'
The United States launched military operations against Iran alongside Israel on 28 February 2026 in an operation dubbed Operation Epic Fury. With the conflict now in its 10th day and casualties mounting, the contrast between the president's granddaughter filming a luxury grocery haul and young Americans of the same age serving in uniform did not go unnoticed.
Doing my part 🫡https://t.co/JQpQ99M4Wdpic.twitter.com/9RHohf6hVn
Comments sections on both YouTube and X were overwhelmed with criticism. One of the most-liked YouTube comments read, 'Title might be the most tone deaf thing I've ever read.' Another wrote, 'I love that my taxes are funding this instead of school lunches.'
On X, the language was harsher. One user wrote, 'People can't afford to put gas in their tank because your pedophile grandpa started a war for Israel and you're making videos shopping at the most expensive grocery store in the US,' according toThe Wrap.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis called it a 'modern-day let them eat cake moment' in a 9 March post on X. Influencer Matt Bernstein wrote that it 'genuinely sometimes feels like they are trying to usher in a French Revolution.' Multiple YouTube commenters invoked Marie Antoinette.
The Lincoln Project also weighed in. In a post viewed over 90,000 times, the political action committee wrote, 'Your kids might get drafted to fight in Iran, while the Trump family uses your tax dollars to shop premium, organic, gluten-free cake,'Newsweek reported.
That Kai Trump YouTube video is one of the most embarrassing self-owns I have ever seen. Her grandfather is crushing the economy and launching illegal wars, and she's bragging about taking her Secret Service to an expensive grocery store. Just a modern-day "let them eat cake"...
Your kids might get drafted to fight in Iran, while the Trump family uses your tax dollars to shop premium, organic, gluten free cake.pic.twitter.com/dyVDsNTIvq
Source: International Business Times UK
