Eric Trump and Ireland - Why he loves it so much
President Trump was in Ireland the other day. Air Force One stopped off at Shannon Airport on the return flight from Zurich, Switzerland, scene of the raucous conference at Davos. He remained on board.
Eric Trump was also in Ireland this past week. He also flew into Shannon but he got off and took a helicopter ride 25 miles to Doonbeg and his father’s golf resort.
Eric Trump. Not Doonbeg.
He came. He saw. He complained.
Eric Trump says he’s been to Ireland “hundreds of times.” In a long clubhouse interview with Niamh Horan of the Irish Independent just published (24 Jan) he repeated a litany of disputes with the planning process in Ireland (and Europe), said millions more would be spent in Ireland (and Scotland) if it wasn't for bureaucratic delays and he promised that the Irish Open at Doonbeg in September will be “the greatest Irish Open ever.”
NOTE - I generally try not to post links to articles that you have to pay to see. But I thought this interview and one the Indo did in September were worth the cost of a subscription (10 euros a month). So I took one for the team
Will his father be coming to Ireland to attend the Open?
Horan reports, “Answering the question on everyone’s lips, he said his father is making plans to be in Doonbeg in September.
“I think he’s gonna be here. He really wants to be here — and I know Rory definitely wants him here.”
Sounds like a definite maybe to me. But the headline writers thought otherwise, “On a visit to Doonbeg, the US president’s middle son says his father will be here for the Irish Open”
The other “scoop” in the interview is that as head of construction for Trump Inc., Eric plans to someday build a Trump Tower in Dublin. Headline - "I dream of a Trump Tower in Dublin, says Eric Trump as he reveals US President hopes to visit Ireland later this year"
He said several times that he loves Ireland. “The Trumps 100% love Ireland.We love the Irish people. That’s why we’ve spent $100 million on improvements here at Doonbeg.”
Eric explained why such love for Ireland. ”The woman that raised me was Irish...I spent so much time in County Cavan growing up. There is Irish blood instilled in every part of my heart and soul,” he said.
“I think so much of my niceness comes from that kind of motherly love she instilled in me when I was growing up.”
First time you've heard of this "Irish nanny" who raised the Trump Kids? Here's her story via an Irish tabloid. From the Daily Mirror in 2016. Dorothy Curry, from Belturbet, Co Cavan, has worked for the billionaire and his former spouse Ivana for more than 30 years. The much-loved nanny raised Donald Trump Jr, 38, Eric Trump, 32, and their 34-year-old Ivanka. The tycoon’s children enjoyed several visits to Ireland as teenagers and still speak affectionately about Dorothy.
Eric, Rory and Conor
Trump says if not for Rory McIroy, the Irish Open wouldn’t be played at Doonbeg in September. “Rory’s become a friend. And frankly, I’d say without Rory’s support, I’m not even sure if we’d have it here.Rory has been super supportive of the family. I was just with him two weeks ago. He played at Trump Jupiter [in Florida].”
When his dad welcomed fighter Conor McGregor to the Oval Office to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day last year, he called him “My favorite Irishman.”
Eric agrees. “Listen, Conor is a friend. He’s beyond a character, and a character in the greatest possible way. I never try and get involved with countries’ individual politics because it’s very personal to a country, but I’m just saying, as a westerner, as a person from America, I think he has represented Ireland with a lot of pride,” he said. Conor too “has been a great guy to our family.”
The AMGEN Irish Open will be played Sept. 10 – 13, 2026. Eric says all corporate sponsorships are sold out and that individual ticket sales are 30% ahead of where they were at this time last year for the Irish Open. Co. Clare welcomes you.
