Donald Trump to follow in Joe Biden’s footsteps and visit Ireland next month

Visit by the former US president will come just weeks after his successor took four-day trip to the island of Ireland

The former US president Donald Trump is to visit Ireland next month.

It will come just weeks after his successor Joe Biden took part in a four-day visit to the island of Ireland.

There is speculation the two men who went head to head in the 2020 US presidential election could again be candidates in 2024.

Bill Clinton, another former US president, is also a recent visitor to Northern Ireland, where he took part in a major conference to mark the 25 anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Trump has owned the Trump International Hotel & Golf Links on the outskirts of Doonbeg in Co Clare since 2014.

It has been indicated the resort expects the 76-year-old to land at Shannon Airport on May 3 for a stay. The last time the former president visited Ireland in 2019 he was still in office.

There were some protests during that visit, but Mr Trump and his sons, Eric and Donald Jr, also received a warm welcome in Doonbeg.

Donald Trump during a bilateral meeting meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Shannon Airport on his last visit to Ireland (PA Archive)

President Biden declared that the US and Ireland are “united by history, heritage and hope” as he ended his visit to the island last week.

The president said his trip to the town “feels like coming home” and told spectators millions of Americans claim to have Irish heritage, adding: “More would if they could.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hailed the success of the visit, stating there was no doubt Ireland had an ally in the White House.

Mr Biden said in his last speech of the tour that he and his siblings were raised with “a fierce pride in our Irish ancestry”.

President Joe Biden speaks outside St. Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina, Ireland, Friday, April 14 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“A pride that spoke to both the history that binds us but more importantly the values that unite us,” he said.

“To this day I can still remember hearing my dad say at the dinner table, ‘Joey, everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect’, I can still hear my mom tell me, ‘Joey, nobody is better than you but everybody is your equal’.”

The president also spoke of the Good Friday Agreement, calling it “25 years of peace and progress”.

Mr Trump’s planned visit comes as he faces court action at home in the United States. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to hide damaging information ahead of the 2016 presidential election.