LAST UPDATE | 3 May 2023
FORMER US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said Ireland has done a good job “luring” US companies to the country.
He was speaking to reporters after his arrival at his golf course outside the town of Doonbeg in Co Clare.
He was greeted by a line of staff at the hotel and a display of Irish music and dance.
Speaking to reporters, he said the staff had “done a great job” and the course had “become a big success”.
Asked by reporters if he would prefer to see the corporation tax being paid by US companies in Ireland, instead being paid in the US, he said: “I won’t answer that question in your country, a lot of people would say yes.
“But Ireland has done a good job, you’ve lured a lot of companies in. They love it here, they really love it here.
“They’ve been treated well just like I’ve been treated well. This has been a great success.”
Asked by the PA news agency for his view on efforts to resolve the impasse over post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland, Trump said: “Well we’re going to see, they’re negotiating and we’re going to see, there are a lot of negotiations going on in Ireland and other places right now, but it’s going be a tough one.
“It’s not an easy one. We have to work it out.”
Trump landed at Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland after flying on a Boeing 757 with Trump livery.
Garda members from the Armed Support Unit were on standby ahead of his arrival, while what appeared to be members of the Secret Service were seen arriving in black cars near the entrance to the airport’s apron.
A heightened garda presence was also visible around the resort and neighbouring towns and villages, including armed patrol units.
He last visited the 400-acre resort, which he bought in 2014, while president in 2019.
Trump, accompanied by his son Eric, has spent the last two days in Scotland, breaking ground on a new golf course at his Menie Estate near Aberdeen before playing a round at his Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire.
Bob Rogers, from Doonbeg Community Development, said the visit is widely welcomed in the town.
“Love him or hate him, he brings a show,” Rogers said.
The trip is Trump’s first abroad since he became the first former US president to face criminal charges.
No travel conditions were placed on him after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business record in New York last month.
The visit coincides with the second week of a civil trial in Manhattan over accusations, denied by Trump, he raped former magazine columnist E Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996.
During his time in Scotland he gave an interview with Nigel Farage which was broadcast on GB News at 7pm.
During the interview, Trump accused his successor Joe Biden of disrespecting the UK King by opting not to attend the coronation.
Trump speculated that the 80-year-old White House incumbent would be “sleeping” at his American home instead of taking up the invitation to be at the Westminster Abbey ceremony on Saturday.
He said his Democrat rival was not physically up to being the country’s leader.
“I was surprised when I heard that he wasn’t coming.
“I think it’s very disrespectful for him not to be (at the coronation).”
Biden carried out a tour of Ireland last month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the peace deal that helped quell the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The US President also travelled to London in September for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral but has opted not to attend her son Charles’ coronation, with his wife and First Lady Jill Biden representing him instead.
During the interview, Trump predicted that he had a “very good chance” of winning the next election if he secures the Republican nomination to take on Biden.
Includes reporting by Press Association
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