US President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Ireland on Saturday, September 12. He will meet with Irish officials in Dublin, but the main focus of the trip is to attend the Irish Open golf tournament at the links and hotel he owns in Doonbeg, County Clare.
Anti-Trump protestors are expected in both locations, but Irish and US security forces will keep the demonstrators far from the American leader. An earlier proposal to close Dublin city center so Trump could visit the site of a new U.S. embassy building has been scratched. Still, as Politico reports, “nails are being bitten” over Trump’s meeting with Irish President Catherine Connolly, a socialist who has denounced him in the past. Trump mistakenly described Connolly as a man.
Trump is not being given the opportunity to address the Irish parliament, honors enjoyed by former US presidents John F. Kennedy (1963); Ronald Reagan (1984); Bill Clinton (1995); and Joe Biden (2023). Trump visited Doonbeg in June 2019, during his first term in office. Here are two recent news stories about his efforts to build a ballroom at the Clare property (sound familiar?) and the town’s relationship with its famous owner:
- From The Washington Post
- From The Irish Times
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The entrance of Trump’s Doonbeg golf course in County Clare during my July 2016 visit.