DUBLIN \u2013 President Donald Trump is taking a break this weekend from the pressures of the Iran war and American voter anger over the conflict\u2019s economic fallout by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes: golf.<\/p>\n
After observing the somber 25th anniversary on Friday of the 9\/11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Trump plans to fly to Ireland for a weekend at his eponymous golf resort in Doonbeg on the country\u2019s Atlantic coast. Trump International Golf Links is hosting the Irish Open, which kicked off Thursday.<\/p>\n
The president is an avid golfer who hits the links at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia just about every weekend. Prime Minister Miche\u00e1l Martin invited Trump to watch the Irish Open during a St. Patrick\u2019s Day trip to Washington in March, and Ireland\u2019s political leaders will most likely see the visit as a chance to maintain warm relations despite differences over trade and foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador to the United States, said Irish and U.S. officials will see Trump\u2019s trip \u201cas a happy opportunity for him to have a little bit of R&R in a place that he really loves, which is his golf course in Doonbeg.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationship with America is on an even keel, which is great because not every country in the world can say that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
There will be a bit of politics, then golf<\/p>\n
Trump plans to sit down on Saturday to talk about trade and international issues with Martin and will also have a brief meeting with President Catherine Connolly, a progressive campaigner who was elected Ireland’s ceremonial head of state last year. He\u2019ll give remarks to business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, the White House said. Then he’ll travel to Doonbeg to attend the tournament, and possibly present the winner\u2019s trophy on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Ireland share ties of history \u2014 30 million Americans claim Irish heritage, and more than 1 million Americans visit Ireland every year \u2014 and strong economic bonds. The Irish Treasury takes in billions in corporate tax from U.S. technology and drug companies operating in Ireland, and American firms employ more than 200,000 people in the country.<\/p>\n
Ireland is a member of the European Union, a frequent target of Trump\u2019s ire, but so far the country’s lucrative pharmaceutical sector has avoided steep levies.<\/p>\n
The Middle East is a potential source of friction. Ireland has recognized a Palestinian state and banned goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, both positions eschewed by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Martin, who leads a center-right coalition government, struck up a cordial relationship with Trump during his St. Patrick\u2019s Day visits, though Trump said in the Oval Office in March 2025 that \u201cof course\u201d Ireland was among countries taking advantage of the United States.<\/p>\n
Not everyone in Ireland is welcoming Trump\u2019s visit. More than 150 Irish lawyers signed a letter objecting to the visit, alleging that through support for conflicts in Gaza and Iran Trump is \u201cexecuting and enabling war policies which are illegal, causing death and destruction on a massive scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
A collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plans to demonstrate in Dublin on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Trump has forged a role as sports fan-in-chief<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at prominent sporting events \u2014 and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.<\/p>\n
In July, Trump marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from Britain by staging a UFC fight night on the South Lawn of the White House and sanctioning the first IndyCar race ever held on the streets of Washington.<\/p>\n
Since beginning a second term in office in January 2025, he\u2019s attended the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the FIFA Club World Cup final and the U.S. Open men\u2019s tennis final. He recently announced that he will be at the Presidents Cup golf tournament in late September near Chicago in the traditional role as honorary chairman of the matches.<\/p>\n
Last summer, he visited his golf courses in Scotland, meeting then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the trip.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s visit has brought a huge security operation to the rural area 175 miles (280 kilometers) west of Dublin, complicated by the presence of some 20,000 golf fans attending the Open.<\/p>\n
Local councilor Rita McInerney, who owns a shop in Doonbeg, said Trump\u2019s purchase of the golf course in 2014 has been a mixed bag for the town.<\/p>\n
She said Doonbeg has been \u201cvilified\u201d by some in Ireland because of its Trump connection, but that the resort is a major employer and a responsible member of the local business community.<\/p>\n
The area draws many American tourists, some of whom come because \u201cthey love the golf more than they hate Trump,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then there\u2019s a group of people that will come because they follow Trump or they like Trump or they support him in the U.S.,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s other people that will avoid the place because he owns it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBLIN \u2013 President Donald Trump is taking a break this weekend from the pressures of the Iran war…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8245,953,8247,217,786,787,7015,951,8246,121,7013,586,588],"class_list":["post-15023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-9-11","tag-catherine-connolly","tag-daniel-mulhall","tag-donald-trump","tag-florida","tag-florida-golf","tag-keir-starmer","tag-micheal-martin","tag-rita-mcinerney","tag-sports","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117437139772197755","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}