Golf and diplomacy on the agenda
US President Donald Trump is traveling to Ireland this Friday to attend a golf tournament at his own course over the weekend, and he will also use the trip to meet with Irish authorities. The main purpose of the visit is to watch the Irish Open, which will be played on Saturday and Sunday at the course the New York businessman owns in Doonbeg, in the west of the country.[S1]
On Saturday morning, Trump will make a courtesy visit to Irish President Catherine Connolly at the presidential residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, in Dublin. He will then hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the nearby Farmleigh House, the official state guest residence. He will also deliver a speech to US diplomatic staff and business leaders at Deerfield, the official residence of the US ambassador to Ireland.[S1]
A meeting with a critic
The encounter with Connolly has generated anticipation, as the president, in office since November 2025, has been critical of Trump's foreign policy, especially regarding his stance on NATO and Washington's support for Israel in the Gaza war. In 2019, during a previous visit by Trump to the island, Connolly took part in a demonstration against him. Trump also mistakenly referred to Connolly using male pronouns during a meeting with Martin at the White House last March for St. Patrick's Day.[S1]
In July 2025, the president traveled to Scotland for a five-day working visit that combined trade negotiations with stops at his Turnberry and Aberdeenshire golf complexes. At that time, amid tariff tensions with the European Union and the United Kingdom, Trump also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and then-UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.[S1]
