Trump expected to use Doonbeg as base on European trip

US president Donald Trump will visit Ireland early next month when he travels to the UK for a state visit and France for a war commemoration, sources familiar with his plans said.

Mr Trump is expected to use Doonbeg, his Co Clare golf resort, as a base from where he will attend the D-Day anniversary in Normandy.

In his first visit to Ireland as president, Mr Trump is expected to arrive on June 5th after his three-day state visit to the UK and to travel on to Normandy for the second World War commemoration on June 6th.

Under plans being worked on by US officials, Mr Trump may return to Doonbeg on June 7th before flying back to the US. It is not yet clear how many nights he might stay at the Co Clare hotel he bought five years ago.

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Irish Government officials have been exploring the possibility of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meeting Mr Trump at another hotel in Co Clare, Dromoland Castle, between June 5th and 7th, while the US president uses his own resort as a base for the second half of his three-country European visit.

The 16th-century Co Clare castle, a five-star hotel, was the venue for the June 2004 meeting between then taoiseach Bertie Ahern and US president George W Bush.

The visit has been confirmed among US officials preparing for the trip. A spokesman for the Government said it had received “no confirmation as to whether or when he would be visiting”.

The Taoiseach said he could not confirm a visit as protocol normally dictates that the White House announces them "rather than the Irish Government".

He said last month the Government may only learn of Mr Trump’s visit “by electronic means” given his use of Twitter to make announcements.

Expectation has grown in recent weeks that Mr Trump would add Ireland to his travel itinerary that already includes his visits to UK and France given that he had to cancel a stop in Ireland during a European trip last year.

US government “advance teams” have visited Co Clare in preparation for the presidential visit.

Department of Foreign Affairs officials have been liaising closely with US officials and preparations for the visit have been stepped up in Washington with advance expenditure approved for the travelling US delegation.

The visit will require a strong security presence in Co Clare. Thousands of gardaí and troops along with a range of military vehicles and equipment were deployed for Mr Bush’s 2004 visit. There are no plans for Mr Trump to visit Dublin.

Mr Trump received a red-carpet welcome when he last visited Co Clare in 2014, shortly after he purchased the Doonbeg resort for €15 million. He was greeted at Shannon by then minister for finance Michael Noonan.

The White House cancelled an earlier planned visit to Ireland last November, which was planned as part of his trip to Europe for the Armistice Day centenary celebrations.

The Government has said that there is a standing invitation to the US president to visit Ireland. Mr Trump has hosted the Taoiseach twice at the White House on St Patrick’s Day visits during his time in office.