This weekend promises to be like no other with the US president Donald Trump arriving for a two-day visit to Ireland that – it is safe to say – is not universally popular.
One of the Air Force Ones – the new one, we are told – will be touching down in Dublin in couple of hours, with Trump set to be greeted by the Tánaiste Simon Harris at what promises to be a grey, damp and blustery Dublin Airport.
He will then be whisked away in a motorcade to the Phoenix Park before 9.30am where a busy (ish) morning awaits.
First he will meet the President Catherine Connolly, a fierce critic of Trump in the past and not just because he once mistakenly referred to her as a man.
After what might be a frosty enough courtesy call, he will make the short journey to Farmleigh House to meet the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, after which he will pop in to Deerfield House where the US ambassador Edward Walsh lives.
The marquee is already up there and crowds are gathering (but more of that anon).
From the Park he will travel to Shannon and then on to his golf course at Doonbeg, where he will stay overnight, before watching more golf on Sunday ahead of his return to Washington.
And that should be that. Nice and calm. No drama.
We will be with you all the way.
The White House Press Pool is covering the visit from the American side and we have a breakdown of Trump’s time in Ireland (the capital letters are all theirs).
9:10 AM: THE PRESIDENT participates in an Arrival Ceremony
9:20 AM: THE PRESIDENT participates in a Courtesy Call with the President of Ireland Áras an Uachtaráin.
10:10 AM: THE PRESIDENT participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Taoiseach of Ireland Farmleigh House
11:35 AM: THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks to US Embassy Personnel and Business Leaders Deerfield Residence
(At this point the precise timings stop, presumably because no-one has a notion how long the aforementioned “remarks” will take.
THE PRESIDENT departs Dublin, Ireland en route Doonbeg, Ireland
THE PRESIDENT arrives Doonbeg, Ireland
THE PRESIDENT attends the 2026 Amgen Irish Open Doonbeg,
Village People on in the park
Our man in the Park (one of them) is Jack Horgan-Jones and he was up before dawn’s early light to get the best of the seats at Deerfield House.
This is his first dispatch.
“You couldn’t quite call it a crowd yet at the US ambassador’s Phoenix Park residence, but there’s at least a growing gaggle of officials and journalists mustering before the reception for Donald Trump, who is expected here around 11am.
“We also spotted Eddie Hobbs at one point. There’s a stiff breeze testing the large marquee set up in the garden for guests, where a rostrum has been set up for himself to speechify from later. And as we write this, they are testing the sound system… and yes, that is the opening bars of YMCA reaching our ears.”
Of course it is.
‘No Welcome for Trump’ protest for city centre
One of the advantages of confining Trump’s events in Dublin to the Phoenix Park is how easy – comparatively – it has been to shut it off to protestors. And it has been widely accepted and advertised that there will be protests today.
The entire park has been closed to the public since Thursday night and no-one is being allowed in either on foot or in cars.
That has seen the biggest of the Dublin protests scheduled for the city centre for lunchtime.
The Irish Neutrality League’s No Welcome for Trump protest will start at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin city at 1pm, with protesters set to march down O’Connell Street and towards the Dáil. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Irish Neutrality League convener Sara O’Rourke said the group hopes thousands of people will turn out.
We have more from Jack Horgan-Jones in the Phoenix Park.
“We have our first TD. And it’s Cork East’s James O’Connor (Fianna Fáil), who is pressing the flesh already as the first bus of proper guests seems to have arrived.
“And he’s joined from Seanad Éireann by Gerard Craughwell. Well done James and Gerard.
“Update on the music: they are now test running the introduction of US ambassador Edward S. Walsh, and we can reveal his entrance music will be ‘God Bless the USA’ (Also known as “Proud to be an American”, the 1984 classic from Country & Western star Lee Greenwood).
“Nobody had to Google that.”
I am writing this Live Story from just outside the Phoenix Park so I am in a position to offer a fairly reliable weather update. The grim and grey start to the morning has been replaced by blue skies over Dublin with Air Force One around 90 minutes from the city.
Names of invited guests starts to emerge
We have a guestlist of sorts for the Deerfield House event.
It has been “gleaned from the names on the seats set up facing the rostrum,” reports Jack Horgan-Jones.
Alongside those who you would expect – like Micheál Martin and former Taoisigh Enda Kenny and Bertie Ahern – there will be Denis O’Brien and Dermot Desmond and Michael O’Leary and builder Sean Mulryan.
Other names on the backs of seats include Michael Flatley, former Tánaiste Simon Coveney, Irish ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason and former cabinet minister Mary Hanafin.
There are also seats for the Secretarys General of the Departments of Defence, of Transport, of Enterprise, Foreign Affairs and of Energy, and Lt General Rossa Mulcahy Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces
Eddie Hobbs has a seat, as does Niamh Uí Bhriain of Gript.ie and conservative activist Laoise de Brún.
There there are ambassadors from other countries and figures from companies including Meta, Amazon, Google, Ornua, Intercom, Glanbia, Stripe, Coca Cola, Amgen and Diageo.
Public disorder will not be tolerated – Garda
There will be “no tolerance” for public disorder or attempts to impair US president Donald Trump’s movements during his visit to Ireland the Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said, with water cannons deployed if necessary.
Speaking to the press yesterday he described the visit, which has been declared an “extraordinary event” by An Garda Síochána, as one of the biggest policing and security operations “in the history of the State”.
Kelly said it “goes without saying” there would be protests during Trump’s visit, adding that “most people” are expected to do so in a peaceful way.
“On the flipside of that, we have invested extensively over the last number of years, particularly since the Dublin riots, in equipment around public order,” he said.
“We will have water cannon on standby for this weekend,” he said. “We hope we don’t have to utilise that, but if we need to, that’s what we have it for.” Two water cannons were bought by the force in the wake of the 2023 Dublin riots.
Kelly said gardaí were doing “everything we can to minimise disruption to the public but during a visit such as this, it is inevitable. So I would ask for people’s patience this weekend, particularly in Dublin and Clare.”
As you might expect, there will be rolling road closures near Dublin Airport and Phoenix Park today as well as around Shannon Airport on Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening.
The airports will remain open throughout the visit but those travelling have been advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
Access to the environs of Doonbeg village, Trump’s hotel and the “wider west Clare environs will be restricted” for much of today and tomorrow.
How many sitting US presidents have visited Ireland?
Probably not as many as you think. While many people here like to talk up Ireland’s very special relationship with the US, only eight presidents have come here while they were resident in the White House.
The first, of course, was John F Kennedy who came to the auld sod in June 1963. He spent four triumphant days travelling the country visiting Dublin, Wexford – from whence his family came – Cork, Galway and Limerick. He also became the first US president to address the joint houses of the Oireachtas.
Richard Nixon came here on a State visit in 1970, stopping off in Dublin, Limerick and Timahoe. It was a decidedly less celebratory affair for many reasons.
Then, in 1984 it was the turn of another Republican, Ronald Reagon. He came in June 1984 and as well as Dublin visited Galway and Ballyporeen where his roots were said to rest. He also addressed the Oireachtas.
Bill Clinton – riding on the crest of the Peace Process wave came on three separate occasions. He was here for the first time in December 1995 and then again in September 1998 and for the third and final time as president in 2000.
George W Bush was in Ireland twice while in the White House. He flew into Shannon and travelled to Dromoland Castle for an EU-US summit in June 2004 and then popped in in February 2006 to meet US troops in Shannon.
Barack Obama’s visit in May 2011 had much more of a celebratory feel to it. He visited Dublin and Moneygall, from whence his great-great-great-grandfather came.
Donald Trump was here once before – back in 2019. It was a flying visit then too and equally focussed on golf. He stayed for one night only, again at Doonbeg.
And then there was Joe Biden. He came to Ireland in April 2023 and it had a homecoming feel akin to Kennedy’s visit 60 years earlier. He visited Dublin and Louth, addressed the Oireachtas. He also went to Mayo where he talked about the Sawdoctors and expressed his hope that Sam would one day be coming home.
Donald Trump is expected to land at Dublin Airport soon pic.twitter.com/XiFZZdGK8E
— Jack White (@JackWhiteJ) September 12, 2026
The DAA – the authority that runs Dublin Airport – has just said the US president Donald Trump will be landing in the next couple of minutes.
We have list of the confirmed delegations for the Áras an Uachtaráin reception from James Cox.
Irish Delegation: Orla O’Hanrahan, Secretary General to the President; Geraldine Byrne-Nason, Irish ambassador to the US, Beibhinn O’Connor, adviser to the President; George Burke, Deputy Secretary General; Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly; Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy, chief of staff, Defence Forces.
US Delegation: Edward Walsh, ambassador to the US; Lynn Walsh, wife of ambassador to the US; Richard Walters, assistant to the President and WH deputy chief of staff; Daniel Scavino, assistant to the President and WH deputy chief of staff; Donald Trump Jr; Bettina Anderson, Donald Trump Jr’s wife; Donald Trump III (17), grandson; Spencer Trump (13), grandson; Chloe Trump (12), granddaughter
We have Jack White out in Dublin Airport and he is reporting that Air Force One is on its final approach now.
Trump touches down in Dublin.
The US president Donald Trump’s plane has landed in Dublin Airport ahead of his two (ish) day visit to Ireland.
Air Force One has landed pic.twitter.com/h2VsRZh7zJ
— Jack White (@JackWhiteJ) September 12, 2026
Just ahead of Trump making his first appearance on the steps of Airforce One, it might be worth recalling a previous visit he made to Ireland, way back in 2014 when he came to have a look at his new golf course in Clare. It was then, is now and always will be mortifying for all concerned.
Trump’s ‘brief swing-by’ is underway
The US media broadcasting from the Phoenix Park have just been heard describing the Trump visit to Dublin as a “brief swing-by” with the main focus being his golf tournament.
Trump has disembarked the plan and has been greeted by the Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee.
He was then given a quick Captain’s Escort of Honour from the Irish Defence Forces before hopping into the Beast ahead of a quick spin to the Aras.
Footage from the airport suggests that he is travelling via motorcade. He will travel down the M50. We can only hope it s not its usual carpark.
Trump being greeted to Ireland by Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee pic.twitter.com/bVnCzfQGGD
— Jack White (@JackWhiteJ) September 12, 2026
A crowd gathered from the early hours at a nearby viewpoint to get a glimpse of Air Force One’s landing, reports Jack White.
Trump travelled to Ireland on the controversially gifted luxury $400 million Boeing 747-8 that was given by the Qatari royal family.
Before the new plane came into use in July, two Boeing 747s had been used since the 1990s to transport US presidents, one of which landed at Dublin Airport shortly before the new aircraft, with Trump saying they were “pretty old”.
The red, white and blue jet is serving as an interim Air Force One aircraft until new Boeings, which have faced long delays and are not expected to be delivered until after Trump’s term ends, are delivered for US presidential use.
The gifted jet was hastily retrofitted at a cost at a cost believed to be in the hundreds of millions.
Unveiling the retrofitted plane in June, he said it was “considered the world’s most luxurious plane. When it was built, it was built at a level that will probably never be seen again,” he said.
Trump’s arrival to Ireland onboard the jet marks the aircraft’s second international flight since Trump began using it on July 1st, after he travelled to a Nato summit in Turkey in July.
However, he did not depart Turkey on the aircraft due to intelligence received on a potential threat from Iran.
The new jet lacks the defensive countermeasures, such as advanced antimissile capabilities, that are typical of other Air Force One jets, the New York Times previously reported.
Trump recently told reporters the aircraft is going to be taken out of service for security upgrades.
Trump heads to the Áras
So what is going to happen next? Well Trump will be in the Phoenix Park shortly and will be greeted outside Áras an Uachtaráin by the president Catherine Connolly.
There will be a few moments for video and pics after which the two presidents will go inside for a brief conversation – that is expected to last no more than 10 minutes.
Interestingly, there will be no video record of that meeting and we will have to wait for around 90 minutes for a statement to be issued outlining what was said.
Harris highlights ‘bilateral relationship’ between US and Ireland
Simon Harris has been speaking out at Dublin Airport. He said he was “pleased to be here on behalf of the Irish government to welcome the president of the United states and also some of his family”.
He said he had talked briefly to Trump”at the foot of Air Force One [and] we had an opportunity to recall previous conversations we had. Indeed I had phoned President Trump on his election as president of the United states.
“He’s very much looking forward to getting to Doonbeg. He’s a man who obviously loves golf and he’s very proud of his Doonbeg golf course and is looking forward to getting down there.
Harris said he was “also conscious of my conversation with the president and indeed his daughter in law that this the president’s grandchildren’s first time in Ireland and I know there’s great personal excitement in relation to that.”
He said that “alongside the politics, alongside some of that pageantry of a US President arriving in Ireland there’s also the a reminder of those deep interpersonal links between our two countries.
He added that as “finance minister I’m very conscious of the economic benefit of the relationship. Hundreds of thousands of people in this country are employed in US firms [and] people in every single state in the United states are employed in Irish owned firms and that two way bilateral relationship matters [and] transcends any individual office holder.”
Just by way of a quick update, Trump’s motorcade has arrived at Áras an Uachtaráin. He made it from Dublin Airport to the park in less than 20 minutes, surely some class of record?