Trump arrives in Dublin for talks and Irish Open

President Trump arrived in Dublin on Saturday for a two-day visit combining official talks with Irish leaders, remarks to business executives and a trip to his golf resort in Doonbeg as the Irish Open is held there.

Trump was greeted on arrival by Tánaiste Simon Harris before heading into a tightly controlled schedule in the capital. He was set for separate meetings with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin, as well as an appearance before U.S. and Irish business leaders at Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador’s official residence in Dublin.

At Áras an Uachtaráin, the Irish president’s official residence, Connolly received Trump at the end of the steps in the Portico, according to a PA report cited by The Guardian. She led him through the Francini corridor into the state reception room, invited him to sign the visitors’ book, and then proceeded with him to the drawing room and a hallway where he was introduced to dignitaries.

The visit has brought a heavy security presence to Dublin. Police established a cordon around the city’s 1,750-acre Phoenix Park, where Trump’s itinerary included meetings at Áras an Uachtaráin, Farmleigh state guesthouse and Deerfield.

Some residents objected to the disruption and to the government’s decision to welcome him. “He’s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” taxi driver Christopher Fox said. “The world’s in turmoil and this fella’s down playing golf.”

University student Mina Petrovski said Trump’s “attitudes towards women, towards immigrants, towards minority communities in general are abhorrent.” She added that it was “shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.”

A collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others planned to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.

Trump’s meeting with Connolly drew added attention because she has been a long-standing critic of the U.S. president, The Guardian reported. The outlet said she has criticized him in the past, including after he mistakenly referred to her as a man. The Guardian also reported that some in Ireland hoped Connolly would challenge Trump over his policies and rhetoric on immigrants and the Middle East, while others hoped she would avoid criticism that could provoke a dispute with economic consequences.

After the Dublin meetings and business remarks, Trump was scheduled to travel across the country to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg. CBS News reported that he planned to watch the Irish Open there, while The Guardian reported that the visit included golf and that he would spend the night at the resort before another day of golf Sunday and a return to Washington.

Trump, an avid golfer, frequently plays at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. His attendance at the Irish Open continues a pattern of appearing at high-profile sporting events, including some staged at properties tied to his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year. The Irish Open is the second European Tour event held at a Trump property this year, after the Nexo Championship last month at his course in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The Guardian reported that Trump arrived in Dublin on a Boeing aircraft given to him by the Qatari royal family, describing it as a $400 million “palace in the sky” converted for presidential use. The outlet said questions remain about how well equipped it is to protect the president from potential threats, citing a July trip to Turkey in which Trump was reportedly moved off the aircraft after a possible Iranian threat while other senior officials and journalists remained aboard.