Who is Vanessa Trump as US president gives blessing for Tiger Woods relationship (2025)

Donald Trump has given Tiger Woods his blessing to date his former daughter-in-law Vanessa by saying he has a “special and very good relationship” with the golfer.

Woods wrote: “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together. At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”

Woods has maintained a relatively neutral political position but is said to be close to the president who enjoyed telling the media recently that they had played golf together in the past.

But who is Vanessa Trump?

Vanessa Trump, née Pergolizzi and later Haydon, is best known for being the ex-wife of the oldest Trump son Donald Trump Jr, with whom she has five children: Kai, 17, Donald John, 16, Tristan, 13, Spencer, 12 and Chloe, 10.

Long before getting involved with the Trumps, Vanessa was a model and an actress. She appeared in a 2003 film called Something’s Gotta Give and reality TV documentary show Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It. The 47-year-old also appeared in an episode of The Apprentice in 2011, hosted by Donald Trump.

The former model comes from a wealthy background: her mother ran a modelling agency and her stepfather was a lawyer. She grew up in a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and is the granddaughter of Danish jazz musician Kai Ewans.

Woods and Donald Jr aren’t the biggest names she has been linked to in the past. She has reportedly dated Leonardo DiCaprio and Saudi prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud.

She married Donald Jr in 2005 at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and the service was officiated by Donald Jr’s aunt, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry. A jeweller had given Donald Jr a $100,000 ring in exchange for him popping the question in front of photographers outside the jeweller's shop at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey.

The couple never publicly announced the reason for their divorce and asked for privacy. At the time, reports circulated that Donald Jr’s frequent travelling was the cause of the couple’s marital issues.

Some sources suggested that Donald Jr “treats [Vanessa] like a second-class citizen” and provided her with little financial support.

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Nonetheless, Vanessa and Donald Jr have maintained a friendly relationship over the years. She even stood up for her ex when he was reportedly dating Kimberly Guilfoyle.

In 2018, Vanessa posted on X (previously Twitter) about “the lengths people will go to attack a woman simply because she’s dating Don. We’ll focus on raising our great kids.”

Mr Trump, a keen golfer, told assembled media that Woods had called him to announce the commencement of the relationship.

The president said: “Vanessa and Don (Jr) have incredible children, five, incredible children. They broke up quite a while ago which to me was very sad as I think they’re both great.

“Tiger actually called me a couple of months ago, I have a very good, special relationship with Tiger, I played golf with him a couple of times over the last month … He’s a fantastic guy, and a fantastic athlete, and he told me about it. And I said: ‘Tiger, that’s good, that’s good …’ I’m very happy for both of them. Very happy. Let ’em both be happy. Let ’em both be happy. They’re both great.”

Woods confirmed the news after months of tabloid speculation.

The unlikely relationship has seemingly come about through their children, Charlie Woods and Kai Trump, who attend the same Florida school and are also golf rivals.

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