US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has told reporters that he will meet with “a lot of the Irish officials” when he visits Doonbeg in Clare next week.
Trump was asked about his upcoming visit – which will make him the seventh US President to travel to Ireland – by RTÉ’s Brian O’Donovan earlier today, saying he was “looking forward to” his one-night stay on 5 June.
“We’re going to be staying in Doonbeg in Ireland because it’s convenient and because it’s a great place, but it’s convenient,” Trump said.
“We’ll be meeting with a lot of the Irish officials, and it’ll be an overnight stay and I look forward to that.”
Trump’s visit will come at the start of a trip to Europe, which will also take in the UK and France, for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June.
His stopover in Ireland has been in the works for some time but the White House did not confirm details until last week.
Reports in US media and the Irish Times had suggested that there was a standoff between both countries over where a meeting between the US President and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will take place.
It had previously been reported that White House officials and Trump wanted the meeting to take place at the Doonbeg golf resort in Clare, which is owned by Trump.
However, it is understood that Varadkar and Irish officials wanted a more neutral venue to host the meeting.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney later labeled reports about a standoff between the two countries as “a total exaggeration”.
“Let me just reassure people: there’s no row, that’s the first thing. And there’s certainly no row over Doonbeg versus other locations,” he said.
It is now expected that Varadkar and Trump will meet at Shannon Airport instead.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say