Yesterday, President Trump flew west from England to the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in southwest Ireland. Despite the logistical impracticality of the location in rural Doonbeg—being that going there required flying in the opposite direction of his stop today in France and that it’s on the opposite side of the country from Ireland’s capital, Dublin—Trump claims that the choice was “convenient.”

This dubious claim is further cast into doubt, however, by several local reports from The Irish Times, that suggest President Trump’s interest in making the trek had more to do with checking in on his Doonbeg property, which he still owns and profits from, than he has admitted.

Here are five details from those reports that show just how closely related Trump’s visit was to his private business interests:
  1. Trump “insisted on flying over the golf course in Marine One” to survey it, according to the resort’s managing director.
  2. Trump discussed his property with an Irish official who represents the county where Doonbeg is located. They “talked about the important role that the resort in Doonbeg plays in local economy,” according to the official.
  3. Trump “really wanted to get back” to Doonbeg “to have a look over” his property, according to the resort’s managing director.
  4. The resort’s managing director said Trump had promised him he would visit Doonbeg as president. “Well did you think I would do it?,” President Trump asked the resort official. “I said I knew you were going to do it,” the resort official said he responded.
  5. President Trump apparently praised the resort’s director of membership for how the business was doing. According to the Times, “he praised him for how well membership was going at the club”—though it isn’t completely clear from the report that it wasn’t the other way around: the resort official praising Trump for memberships.

President Trump’s visit to his Doonbeg resort is providing stark examples of the types of conflicts that afflict his administration every day. It is often difficult to tell whether the decisions he makes as president are actually motivated by his private business interests. In this case, however, it seems pretty obvious.

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