Trump meets Ireland's leaders before heading to his golf club in Doonbeg

Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin (left) and President Trump met Saturday at Farmleigh House in Dublin. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption

President Trump held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart, Catherine Connolly, during a weekend visit that's more about a major golf tournament hosted on a course he owns on the country's Atlantic coast. He also met with Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

Trump will address the 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.

Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019 during his first term in office. She is now Ireland's elected, largely ceremonial head of state. A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a "bully."

The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence. They shook hands and chatted before going inside. He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S. national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.

Connolly then joined Trump outdoors to introduce the U.S. and Irish delegations before the leaders went back inside for their closed-door talks.

Trump's visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.

Police put up a cordon around Dublin's 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. He will meet Martin, the taoiseach, at the government's Farmleigh state guesthouse and stop by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador's residence.