Donald Trump is landing in Dublin for a 48-hour visit that will put trade, Gaza, Ukraine and Iran on the table while he spends most of the trip at his golf club, the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Doonbeg in County Clare. The choreography is familiar: heads of state, business interests and a carefully managed public stage, all while the machinery of power keeps moving over everyone else’s heads.
Trump is due to meet Irish President Catherine Connolly on Saturday morning and then hold a bilateral meeting with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin for around an hour. He will also drop by Áras an Uachtaráin, the Irish president’s official residence and workplace in Phoenix Park, and later deliver a speech to select guests at the nearby residence of the US Ambassador to Ireland, Ed Walsh, also in Phoenix Park. The visit ends on Sunday evening, when Trump is expected to present the trophy to the winner of the Irish Open golf tournament.
The State's Courteous Face
Government sources told Euronews they expect a “St. Patrick’s Day style” meeting between Martin and Trump, meaning about an hour of discussion in a convivial setting. That’s the language of diplomacy: soft lighting, short meetings, and the usual promise that the powerful are just having a friendly chat while decisions with real consequences are made elsewhere. Micheál Martin put the economic script in plain terms, saying: “The relationship between Ireland and the United States is very important economically,” and adding: “It’s very, very significant both ways.”
Ahead of the trip to County Clare, sources said the Irish government will raise EU-US trade relations, support for Ukraine, the conflict with Iran and the ongoing situation in Palestine. Trump is also expected to urge Ireland to buy US LNG as part of trade talks and amid spiraling gas and oil prices due to the Iran war. The state’s priorities are laid out with brutal clarity: trade, energy, war and managed crisis, all folded into one diplomatic itinerary.
Fortress Europe, With Golf Clubs
Ireland was one of 12 countries that issued a statement backing sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Dublin expected a serious backlash from the White House over its targeting of Israel, but Washington has not responded so far. The silence says as much as any statement. The same governments that speak in the language of law and principle are also the ones arranging sanctions, trade pressure and strategic alignments while the situation in Palestine remains unresolved.
Connolly’s meeting with Trump is causing nervousness in government circles. She was a member of parliament when Trump last visited Ireland in 2019 and spoke out against that visit. Before being elected president of Ireland in 2025, she was highly critical of Trump’s first term and once described him as a “bully and a misogynist.” Her supporters hope she will “speak truth to power.” That phrase has a certain ring, though the power in question is still arriving by plane, meeting the Taoiseach, and being ushered through the ceremonial rooms of the Irish state.
Connolly is a long-standing anti-war activist, and her sister, Dr. Margaret Connolly, was detained by Israeli military forces in May 2026 after they intercepted a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid boat. Along with several other European and Israeli politicians, Micheál Martin condemned the interception as “unacceptable.” President Catherine Connolly said she found the situation “quite upsetting” and expressed concern for her sister and fellow activists. The contrast is sharp enough without commentary: one set of actors intercepts aid boats, another condemns the interception, and the people trying to reach Gaza are still the ones caught in the middle.
Protest Outside the Script
Rosie O’Donnell, the US comedian who moved to Ireland after Trump won a second term, told the Irish Independent: “She should speak truth to power,” and added: “I don’t think she should drop what she believes in to be polite to a madman. He is like a mad king that has destroyed the country.” O’Donnell is leading a protest against Trump’s visit on Dublin’s O’Connell Street at 13:00 GMT. That’s the only part of the itinerary that doesn’t depend on the approval of presidents, taoisigh or ambassadors.
Trump’s schedule is built around the same old architecture of hierarchy: official residences, bilateral meetings, select guests, golf trophies and trade demands. The people outside those rooms get the speeches, the sanctions, the energy bills and the border regimes. The rest is ceremony.