US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s fleeting visit to Ireland was dominated by golf rather than politics, but in true Trump fashion, he made sure to drop one political bombshell before leaving. 

As he presented the Irish Open winner’s trophy to Offaly’s Shane Lowry, the US president couldn’t help himself: 

“I want to mention one thing. Taoiseach and I talked about it, and Shane talked about it, and everybody’s been bugging me. They’re saying: ‘Will you do me a favour? It’s so unfair what’s going on. Could you possibly take the tariffs off of Irish Whiskey?”

“And I said, on behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off.”

Some might say it was almost as if he couldn’t let Lowry have his moment.

Trump’s announcement came as a shock, catching even Irish government staffers off guard and leaving some members of the press wondering if he was serious or not.

But senior government sources have since confirmed that the Taoiseach had been discussing the tariff issue with the president over the course of the weekend. 

The fact that Trump had dropped tariffs on whisky made in the UK back in April, “in honour” of King Charles III, who had just made a state visit to the US, was seen in Ireland as a half-open door ready to be pushed.

The removal of the 10% tariff, which now levels the playing field between Irish whiskey businesses and those in Northern Ireland and Scotland, has been gratefully received by the Irish government. 

To put it simply, the feeling in Government Buildings is that the weekend could hardly have gone better. 

As is always the case with Trump, the stakes were high, but with no major gaffes or controversies to report, along with the whiskey win and the international headlines about Irish reunification, the government is taking it as a good weekend’s work.

Of course, Trump’s visit wasn’t positively received across the board, with significant protests in Dublin and smaller ones in Clare marking his visit. 

In the main, the protests centred on the US president’s Middle East policy, and America’s support of Israel and its actions in Palestine. But domestic US issues, like LGBTQ and women’s rights, as well as his record on climate change, were also key areas of discontent for Irish protesters.

Inside the Irish Open, the reaction to Trump from punters was more mixed.

The president’s final day in Doonbeg got off to a late start, with Trump not appearing from his hotel until late afternoon.

Shortly before 1pm, an Irish flag and an American flag were placed outside the main entrance, and a crowd of spectators began to gather on the path below as rumours swirled that the president was on his way out to the course. 

After a small frenzy, the crowd was cleared, and it wasn’t until almost 2pm that the president finally exited the hotel, walking the short distance down to the first tee box to watch Lowry tee off, to cheers from spectators.

He seemed to be in great form, stopping briefly to speak to reporters as he made his way down to the green, doubling down on his support for Irish unity and saying he “loved Irish people” on the way.

A short while before Trump appeared, billionaire Denis O’Brien exited the Trump hotel alongside US Ambassador to Ireland Ed Walsh. Later in the day, O’Brien was again spotted watching the golf beside the US president.

Inside the hotel earlier that morning, Trump’s family milled about as hotel guests had their breakfast. 

His oldest son, Donald Jnr, was in high spirits as he headed out to the course, while one of Trump’s young granddaughters could be seen playing a tin whistle as she left the hotel with her mother, Lara Trump.

While many Irish Open attendees were quietly amused by the spectacle of the US president’s attendance at the golf tournament, others were swept up in the excitement, with chants of “USA! USA!” heard as he made his way onto the eighteenth green for the winner’s presentation on Sunday evening.

Chants of “four more years!” were also heard across the golf course – and from within the hotel’s private members’ bar – at different points over the course of Trump’s stay.

Still, plenty of people were happy to see the back of him. 

“Bye bye now and let us get back to normal!,” one woman shouted after his motorcade as it made the short drive from the hotel to the helipad where Marine One was waiting to transport him to Shannon Airport.

“Shhhhs,” her friend said, “Don’t be drawing attention to us.” 

Overall, Trump’s 36-hour visit to Ireland may have been a personal one for the US President, but the little politics he did squeeze in was done in quintessentially Trump fashion.

The US president seemed to think he knew just how to win over an Irish audience: booze and reunification.

To some extent, it may have worked, but for many in Ireland, just like the lady in Doonbeg, they are also happy to see the back of him.