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Trump in Dublin, then Doonbeg for the Irish Open

September 12, 2026

Trump met Irish President Catherine Connolly in Dublin and is set to meet Taoiseach Micheal Martin, then travel to his Doonbeg golf club for the Irish Open.

Catherine Connolly is Ireland's elected head of state in a largely ceremonial office; Micheal Martin is taoiseach. Trump owns an oceanfront golf club at Doonbeg in County Clare, one of several courses he plays and owns.

Key facts

CNN reports that Trump landed to a band playing the American and Irish anthems, that Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina came off the plane behind him, and that a White House official described the meetings as covering economic cooperation, openings for U.S. industry and international questions of mutual interest. NPR reports the day's shape: remarks to American and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Dublin, then the flight across the country to the oceanfront club at Doonbeg to watch the Irish Open. CBS News reports the two separate Dublin meetings, with President Catherine Connolly and with Taoiseach Micheal Martin. The Guardian places Trump at Deerfield, the ambassador's residence, ahead of his speech. France 24 and The New York Times carry the same visit, the latter from the village itself, where the arrival drew both protest and welcome.

On Irish unity the accounts converge on the substance. The Guardian reports Trump saying he would “love to see it unified” and predicting a united Ireland is “going to happen eventually”; politico.eu carries the same prediction, “It’s going to happen eventually”, and notes the visit's golf purpose. CNN reports the fuller remark, including that the UK would have something to say about it, and Trump calling unification “a great feather in everybody’s cap”; The Guardian adds his line that unification “would be cool”. politico.eu supplies the standing terms: nearly 3,700 people were killed in three decades of conflict over Northern Ireland's constitutional future, and the 1998 Good Friday accord set Northern Ireland's place in the UK as a matter for a majority of its voters, a position opinion polls have not moved since.

The friction in the record is local rather than factual. NPR quotes Dublin taxi driver Christopher Fox saying “He's causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” while CNN reports Trump directing questioners to Morrissey’s tavern in Doonbeg, and Eric Trump telling RTE that the golf course is the area's largest employer. CBS News reports the planned Saturday demonstration by left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations and environmentalists; CNN notes that Ronald Reagan's 1984 visit also drew protests. NPR and CBS News both place the Irish Open as the second European Tour event at a Trump property this year, after the Nexo Championship at Aberdeen last month, and NPR calls the trip another blending of official duties and personal interests. The itinerary, the meetings, the unity remarks and the protest plans are reported the same way across every account; what Trump says at Deerfield and what the Martin meeting produces are not yet on the record.

A taxi driver in the capital, Christopher Fox, who makes no secret of his dislike for the president, put it bluntly: "He's causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf," he said.

Still developing

The content of Trump's address to business leaders at Deerfield and the outcome of his meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin are not yet described in any account, and the size and course of Saturday's planned Dublin demonstration are still ahead. Shane Lowry led the Irish Open at the halfway point, with the tournament unfinished.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 100% · Contested 0% · Developing 0%

Sources