FORMER US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has called Joe Biden “an incompetent person” while speaking to the media in Doonbeg, Co Clare.

Speaking to reporters after teeing off from the fourth hole at Trump International’s golf course in the west of Ireland, Trump appeared to praise his own golfing skills when he said of the range of his tee shot: “290, 295”.

He mocked Joe Biden’s physical abilities and golf skills after hitting his first drive: “You think Biden can do that? I don’t think so.

“Biden doesn’t hit a 280 right down the middle, does he?

“Biden can’t hit an 80 down the middle.”

He then stopped to ask a group of reporters: “Everybody having a good time? You didn’t know this about Trump, did you?”

When asked whether he’d be looking for the Irish American vote if he ran again for president in 2024, Mr Trump said “I’m looking, right now I’m looking, that’s why I’m talking to you.”

When asked about his successor, Trump said “Biden is an incompetent person”.

Asked if he was confident he could defeat Biden in the next US election, he said: “I could win it three times.”

Trump was wearing a Make America Great Again (Maga) hat.

He was accompanied by his son Eric as well as members of the secret service as he departed in a golf buggy.

Civil rape case

Trump said he is cutting his trip to Ireland short so he can return to “confront” his accuser in a New York civil rape case, which he described as a “political attack”.

Trump said to reporters that he would “probably attend” the hearing.

His visit to Scotland and Ireland has coincided with the second week of a civil trial in Manhattan over accusations, denied by Trump, that he raped former magazine columnist E Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996.

Trump said he has been “falsely accused”.

“I’ll be going back early because a woman made a claim that is totally false, it’s fake.”

He said his accuser is a Democrat and the judge is a “rough judge”.

“He doesn’t like me very much, he was appointed by Bill Clinton,” he said.

He added: “It’s a disgrace but we have to do it, it’s a part of life.

“It’s a fake claim like all the other claims, just like ‘Russia Russia Russia’.”

“Because of that I have to leave Ireland and I have to leave Scotland where I have great properties, I have to leave early.

“I don’t have to but I choose to.”

Trump said he is going to “go back and confront this woman”.