{"id":605856,"date":"2026-08-27T04:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/605856\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T04:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:34:16","slug":"a-high-level-arrival-like-no-other-what-to-expect-during-donald-trumps-visit-to-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/605856\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018high-level\u2019 arrival like no other: What to expect during Donald Trump\u2019s visit to Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even by the standards of US presidents, a visit from Donald Trump<\/a> promises to block out the sun for a couple of days in September. <\/p>\n

And while you may struggle to get anyone to confirm it, planning is well under way for what is euphemistically being called a \u201chigh-level visit\u201d in official circles. It is widely anticipated that he will fly in for the weekend of the Irish Open golf tournament, which will be held at his Doonbeg resort in Co Clare<\/a>. <\/p>\n

So, what do we know so far?<\/p>\n

When is he arriving?<\/p>\n

The tournament is preceded by a practice day on Wednesday, September 9th, before starting in earnest the next day and concluding on Sunday, September 13th. It is highly unlikely that Trump would miss the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which falls on the Friday, so planning is taking place on the basis that he will arrive in Ireland on Saturday 12th and leave the following day. <\/p>\n

Where will he go?<\/p>\n

To the golf, obviously. But there is also a widespread expectation that he will visit Dublin. Depending on who you talk to, he\u2019ll either land into Shannon<\/a> on Saturday and visit Dublin on Sunday, or vice versa, with Air Force One shuttling him between the coasts. During the Dublin<\/a> leg, he is expected to meet with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee. <\/p>\n

The Coalition is probably breathing a quiet sigh of relief that the D\u00e1il isn\u2019t sitting, ruling out any chance of a Leinster House address.<\/p>\n

There are many rumours and theories about the exact choreography of where he will go and when, with Government figures saying advance visits to scout locations and logistics are under way on the American side. But nothing, it seems, is set in stone yet \u2013 with a Government figure pithily dismissing anyone who claims otherwise as \u201ctalking bulls**t\u201d. <\/p>\n

What about our president?<\/p>\n

There is no indication as to whether Trump will pay a courtesy call to the \u00c1ras. But if he is so inclined, President Catherine Connolly might find it difficult to avoid, having promised to uphold her duties in office and meet visiting heads of state \u2013 even ones she was harshly critical of in her previous life as a parliamentarian, such as Trump. \u00c1ras sources suggest she still holds this view, so it seems at this juncture that an awkward diplomatic spurning is unlikely.<\/p>\n

What security arrangements are planned?<\/p>\n

This is a big challenge for the garda\u00ed, who will be policing events on opposite sides of the country while co-ordinating with US security. This is happening while Ireland has the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which carries significant policing obligations. <\/p>\n

Garda unions say an \u201cextraordinary event\u201d has been declared, waylaying leave and mandating that overtime be taken. This comes on the back of a busy year for rank-and-file officers, with EU presidency events dotted across July. Garda Representative Association (GRA) deputy general secretary James Morrisroe says an \u201cunprecedented strain\u201d has been placed on his members. \u201cSerious accommodation issues and lack of detail regarding parading locations is also causing difficulties for our members,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Will Dublin be in lockdown?<\/p>\n

If Trump ends up travelling through the city, almost certainly. A big protest is planned, according to Sara O\u2019Rourke of the Irish Neutrality League, which is co-ordinating with other activist organisations such as United Against Racism, Extinction Rebellion and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. They plan to march from the Garden of Remembrance across the city and back to the GPO for speeches, music and demonstrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to march to wherever he is and do some shouting, but being realistic, we\u2019re not going to get anywhere near him,\u201d says O\u2019Rourke. She added that demonstrators will march through the city \u201crather than trying to hare around trying to find out where he is\u201d. <\/p>\n

What is the potential for controversy? <\/p>\n

With Trump, as ever, it is abundant. Everything he does and says brings an opportunity for blowback, so watch this space. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even by the standards of US presidents, a visit from Donald Trump promises to block out the sun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[969,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-605856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-donald-trump","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}