President Donald Trump arrived in Dublin on Saturday, for a weekend visit involving bilateral talks with Irish leaders and a trip to his Doonbeg golf resort for the Irish Open, drawing large public protests and sharp divisions over international policy.
President Donald Trump arrived Saturday in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off a two-day weekend trip that combines high-level diplomacy with sporting events. The president is set for separate meetings in Dublin with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Prime Minister Micheál Martin, kicking off a weekend visit. Mr. Trump also plans remarks to U.S. and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s official residence in Dublin before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.
Security Cordon and Official Itinerary in Dublin
Police put up a cordon around Dublin’s 1,750-acre Phoenix Park, where he’ll meet Martin, the taoiseach, at the government’s Farmleigh state guesthouse, say hello to the president at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, and stop by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador’s residence. President Trump reviews an honour guard during an arrival ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin on September 12, 2026 in Dublin, Ireland. Charles McQuillan / Getty Images Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption.
Phoenix Park closed to all traffic and pedestrians at 11 pm on Thursday, and will not reopen until after the completion of the policing and security operation in the Dublin Region
on Saturday, Gardaí said. The President’s visit – which is not an official state visit – has prompted a staggering security operation in both Dublin and Clare.
Public Protests and Political Backlash Across Ireland
Protests are set to be held across Ireland this weekend during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Dublin and Doonbeg, Co Clare. Trump is heading to Ireland to attend the final days of the Amgen Irish Open golf tournament, which is being hosted at his resort in Doonbeg, Co Clare. The US President will be in Ireland a week after the latest Sunday Independent / Ireland Thinks poll found that 69% of respondents do not welcome his visit. Trump is due to arrive at Dublin Airport on Saturday morning, where he is expected to be greeted by Tánaiste Simon Harris. From Dublin Airport, he will travel via Marine One to Phoenix Park for a brief courtesy call
with President Catherine Connolly, a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and an engagement with US Ambassador Ed Walsh.
On Thursday, a temporary installation, commissioned by campaigning organization Uplift and created by Waterford environmental artist Seán Corcoran, was unveiled on the beach at Dublin Bay. NO KINGS – GAZA • IRAN • ICE,
the large-scale artwork reads. We want to send a message to Trump that he is not welcome here in Ireland," sai
He's causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,
said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of the president. The world's in turmoil and this fella's down playing golf.
University student Mina Petrovski said Mr. Trump’s attitudes towards women, towards immigrants, towards minority communities in general are abhorrent.
She said it’s shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.
Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against the president in Dublin o
Local groups, including the Irish Neutrality League, and The Irish Anti-War Movement, have expressed their intention to take part in demonstrations. Irish Labour Senator Nessa Cosgrove has referred to the visit taking place from Sept. 12 to 13 as a security nightmare
and said she hopes the U.S. President takes time to learn why people might be exercised
about the trip.
They are angry about fuel prices, which have spiraled because of his unnecessary war of aggression in Iran,
she told Irish media last week, adding that people are also angry about the ill-treatment of the Palestinian people by his closest allies in Israel.
In a follow-up statement to TIME, Cosgrove states that protecting a serving U.S. President is a serious responsibility, and An Garda Síochána [Ireland's police force] must have the resources necessary to do that safely.
We should also be very clear that people have every right to peacefully protest President Trump's visit. We expect there will be significant protests and many Labour Party members and elected representatives will be joining them,
she tells TIME. Many people in Ireland have profound and legitimate objections to his Administration's actions and policies, to put it mildly, and they have every right to make those views heard.
An Garda Síochána told TIME the force does not comment or speculate on operational matters.
Sinn Féin representatives will be a part of the protests against US President Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland this weekend. Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald said “correctly” there will be protests and said her party will form part of those demonstrations.
I'm not surprised that there will be protests at this visit,
she told media at her party’s annual think-in.
I think that is quite correct given the scale of the breaches of international law, given the genocide in Palestine, events in Gaza and on the West Bank, we are seeing settler violence at a rate that is literally unspeakable.
The United States, and I say this with deep, deep regret and some anger, facilitates that, facilitates Israel in its onslaught against the Palestinian people.
So quite correctly there will be a protest against some of that. I would be deeply shocked if there weren't and, yes, Sinn Féin will be there.
Economic Ties and Diplomatic Pragmatism
President Donald Trump is taking a break this weekend from the pressures of the Iran war and American voter anger over the conflict’s economic fallout by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes: golf. After observing the somber 25th anniversary on Friday of the 9/11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Trump plans to fly to Ireland for a weekend at his eponymous golf resort in Doonbeg on the country’s Atlantic coast.
Prime Minister Micheál Martin invited Trump to watch the Irish Open during a St. Patrick’s Day trip to Washington in March, and Ireland’s political leaders will most likely see the visit as a chance to maintain warm relations despite differences over trade and foreign policy. Daniel Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador to the United States, said Irish and U.S. officials will see Trump’s trip as a happy opportunity for him to have a little bit of R&R in a place that he really loves, which is his golf course in Doonbeg.
The relationship with America is on an even keel, which is great because not every country in the world can say that,
he said.
The Irish Open at Doonbeg
Trump International Golf Links is hosting the Irish Open, which kicked off Thursday. The president is an avid golfer who hits the links at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia just about every weekend.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the National Medal of Honor Museum, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off the 14th on day two of the Irish Golf Open in Doonbeg, Ireland
Related reading