A YouTube vlog showing President Donald Trump’s granddaughter shopping at a Los Angeles luxury grocery store, Erewhon, with a Secret Service motorcade, sparked backlash online and drew comparisons with how former President Joe Biden has recently been seen traveling with a far smaller security footprint.
Former President Joe Biden was recently spotted flying on a commercial flight from Washington’s Reagan National Airport and waiting through delays alongside regular passengers, according to the Associated Press.
Biden, who spent decades commuting by train between Washington and Delaware as a senator, a habit that earned him the nickname “Amtrak Joe,” boarded a small commuter jet to South Carolina with only a small Secret Service presence spread throughout the plane.
Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, drew criticism online after posting a video of herself visiting the upscale grocery store Erewhon in Santa Monica, California.
Posted March 8, the vlog quickly drew attention as viewers noticed the Secret Service motorcade outside the Erewhon store in Santa Monica and heard her react to the retailer’s famously high prices.
Viral Grocery Store Trip Draws Attention
Inside the store, she browses vitamins, supplements, drinks and prepared foods while reacting to the prices.
Erewhon has built a reputation in Los Angeles for luxury grocery items such as $22 smoothies and high-end prepared foods.
At one point she reacts to the price of a store hoodie.
“The hoodie’s 165,” a store employee tells her in the video.
Moments later she jokes about the cost.
“I’m like I’m about to go like bankrupt with this stuff. I’m going to need to file for bankruptcy,” she says.
The vlog ends with Kai Trump revealing that the shopping trip totaled $233 for a single grocery bag of items.
“All of this costs $233 for one grocery bag,” she says near the end of the video. “$233 is crazy.”
The video also briefly shows Secret Service agents as she exits the store and enters a motorcade outside.
Online Backlash And Political Debate
The video quickly drew thousands of comments and widespread discussion across social media.
Some viewers framed the clip as a symbol of political privilege during a period of economic pressure for many Americans.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote on X that the video looked like a “modern ‘let them eat cake’ moment.”
The Lincoln Project made a similar argument in its own post.
“Your kids might get drafted to fight in Iran, while the Trump family uses your tax dollars to shop premium, organic, gluten free cake,” the group wrote.
Online reactions also drew historical comparisons, with some critics referencing Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution while arguing the video appeared tone-deaf.
One person said, “Straight up Hunger Games at this point lmao.”
Another viewer wrote, “I love that my taxes are funding this instead of school lunches.”
Several people also mocked the presence of a security convoy, with some viewers suggesting that a motorcade of vehicles accompanied the Secret Service detail.
Others reacted with sarcasm about economic inequality.
“Oh come on, let them eat cake!” one person wrote.
The criticism often focused less on the grocery store itself and more on the perception of wealth and political power.
Not Everyone Agreed With The Criticism
Some people defended Kai Trump and pushed back on the criticism, saying her family was wealthy long before Donald Trump entered politics.
“You guys do realize that her family was rich before her grandpa became president, right?!?!!” one person wrote.
Others said the Secret Service presence exists for security reasons.
“It’s called protection from crazy’s like you…” another person wrote in response to criticism.
Some supporters also shifted the debate into broader political arguments about immigration and government spending.
“It’s so ironic that that so many of the people complaining and griping about this support a political party that support open borders,” one person wrote in a lengthy reply.
The debate quickly expanded into wider arguments about politics, wealth inequality and public spending.
Luxury Grocery Prices Add Fuel To The Debate
Part of the reason the video went viral is Erewhon’s reputation for extremely expensive products.
The Los Angeles grocery chain is known for wellness drinks, specialty supplements and influencer collaborations. Viral items such as celebrity smoothies often cost more than $20.
Kai Trump sampled several items in the video, including sushi, specialty drinks, and prepared hot foods.
Not all of them impressed her.
At one point she reacts to a bottle of hydrogen-infused water after tasting it.
“This is the biggest ripoff. It just tastes like water,” she says.
Some food items earned better reviews. She praised one of the store’s prepared dishes.
“This is the best cauliflower I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she says while trying buffalo cauliflower from the hot bar.
But the overall experience still resulted in sticker shock.
“I could probably make all this at home for like under $10,” she says while discussing the $37 hot bar meal.
Timing During Economic And Political Tensions
The backlash also unfolded during a tense political moment in the United States.
President Donald Trump recently dismissed concerns about rising oil prices connected to the war involving Iran.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” the president wrote in a social media post. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
Oil prices jumped about 7% shortly afterward and reached their highest level since 2022. AAA data shows the average price for a gallon of regular gas has climbed to about $3.50.
At the same time, public confidence in the economy has weakened. A recent Economist/YouGov survey found that 53% of respondents believe the economy is getting worse, according to USA Today.
That broader context helped amplify the reaction to the Erewhon video, with critics pointing to rising costs of living while a member of a political family filmed a luxury grocery vlog.
A Growing Online Presence
Kai Trump has built a sizable audience on social media. She has nearly 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 2.7 million followers on Instagram.
Her videos often focus on lifestyle content, golf and daily life.
The Erewhon vlog shows how even a casual shopping video can quickly turn into a national political conversation once it involves a high-profile political family and visible government security.
In the end, the grocery trip itself cost $233.
The online debate that followed, however, turned into something far bigger.