A Florida judge extended a restraining order protecting Kai Trump, the 19-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump, against a 26-year-old man described as homeless and living in his car near her Palm Beach County home. The order, which bars Gabriel Garza Jr. from stalking, cyberstalking, or approaching Kai at her residence, workplace, or the University of Miami, will remain in effect until May 2027.
Kai filed the petition in April. A judge granted a temporary restraining order that same month and scheduled a hearing for April 30, but Kai asked the court to push it back so she would not miss her final day of high school. On May 14, the judge held the rescheduled hearing and extended the order for two full years, the Daily Mail reported.
The order prohibits Garza from coming within 500 feet of Kai's home or place of work and specifically bars him from approaching her at the University of Miami, where Kai announced on May 4 she would be enrolling.
Garza is not the only individual to target the young Trump family member. On June 3, 2025, a 23-year-old man named Anthony Thomas Reyes allegedly scaled the walls of the Mar-a-Lago resort and made what was described as an indecent proposal to marry Kai. Reyes reportedly told officers he was looking for President Trump to talk about "the gospel." The president was in Washington, D.C., at the time, and Kai was vacationing in the Bahamas.
The two incidents involving Kai fit a broader pattern of threats and breaches directed at the Trump family and their properties. Earlier this year, a man was arrested at Trump National Doral after a physical confrontation with a Secret Service agent, underscoring the persistent security challenges that surround the president's orbit.
Garza was described as living in his car in areas around Jupiter and Palm Beach County, the same stretch of South Florida where the Trump family maintains residences and properties. The court filing did not detail the specific stalking behavior alleged in the petition, and it remains unclear whether Garza has been arrested or charged with any crime beyond the civil restraining order.
The threats extend well beyond property lines. Federal prosecutors have pursued multiple cases involving individuals accused of plotting or threatening violence against the president himself, including a federal grand jury adding a fourth charge against a man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump near the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Kai Trump rose to national prominence during the 2024 presidential campaign, appearing and speaking at her grandfather's rallies and sharing behind-the-scenes moments on social media. That visibility, which helped humanize the campaign for many voters, has also made her a target, a reality the restraining order now formalizes in court records.
She graduated from high school recently and posted images on Instagram Stories showing herself alongside her mother, Vanessa Trump, in a blue cap and gown. In one post, Kai captioned a photo of her mother with the words: "The strongest person I know."
That caption carried weight. Vanessa Trump, 48, had just disclosed a breast cancer diagnosis in an Instagram post days earlier. She wrote:
"I want to share a personal health update. I've recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. While this isn't news anyone expects, I'm working closely with my medical team on a treatment plan."
Vanessa had undergone a procedure earlier that week. She was seen strolling through a shopping mall in West Palm Beach with Kai on Sunday but was noticeably absent from Kai's graduation celebration. No explanation for the absence was provided.
Concerns about security for the Trump family have prompted ongoing scrutiny of how law enforcement and federal agencies handle threats. Questions about protective failures have surfaced repeatedly, including when Rep. Luna cited whistleblowers and security breakdowns surrounding the Butler assassination attempt on the president.
The restraining order arrived during a stretch of significant personal events for the Trump family. Kai's father, Donald Trump Jr., recently married Bettina Anderson in an intimate ceremony in Palm Beach. The couple then traveled to the Bahamas for a celebration attended by family members including Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump. The president and First Lady Melania Trump were not in attendance; the couple reportedly hopes to hold a third celebration at the White House.
Kai, meanwhile, has moved forward with her own plans. Her May 4 announcement that she would attend the University of Miami prompted the court to include the campus in the restraining order's geographic restrictions, a practical measure that reflects the real-world consequences of being a public figure at 19.
She was also spotted meeting her grandmother Bonnie Haydon and aunt Veronika Haydon for dinner at The Mark in New York City, a celebrity hotspot, the kind of normal family outing that now requires a court order to keep a stranger 500 feet away.
The judicial system has also drawn scrutiny for how it treats those who threaten members of the Trump family. In one case, a federal judge apologized to an accused Trump assassin over jail conditions, drawing fierce backlash from those who believe the legal system should prioritize the safety of targets over the comfort of the accused.
Several questions remain open. The specific stalking behavior Garza allegedly engaged in has not been publicly detailed beyond his proximity to Kai's home area. Whether he has been arrested or faces criminal charges is unclear. The name of the judge who issued and extended the order has not been disclosed, nor has the specific Florida court that handled the petition.
Garza's alleged motive is also unknown. The court filings, as reported, describe the prohibitions, no stalking, no cyberstalking, no criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death, but do not explain what prompted Kai to seek the order in the first place.
TMZ first reported on the petition in April, and the May 14 hearing confirmed the court's decision to keep the order in place through May 2027, covering Kai's expected time as an undergraduate.
For a 19-year-old heading to college, the restraining order is not a political statement. It is a legal necessity born from the fact that being related to a president now carries a security cost that extends to teenagers who never asked for it. Kai Trump asked a court to reschedule a hearing so she could attend her last day of high school. That tells you everything about where her priorities are, and everything about the kind of threats that won't let her be a normal kid.