Eric Trump: My father will be ‘a great friend’ to Ireland

US president Donald Trump loves Ireland and “will be a great friend to this country,” his son Eric Trump has said.

The billionaire has shown “real back-bone and real leadership” to the rest of the world since replacing Barack Obama, highlighted by recent military action against Syria, he said.

In an interview on Clare FM’s Morning Focus, Eric Trump, who visited his family’s Doonbeg resort in Co Clare this week, said he believed his father would be “judged in an amazing way”.

He said his father “is a guy who loves this property, he loves Ireland, he loves everything about it and he is stuck with the most difficult job in the world”.

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“He always loved it, he loved the warmth, the loved the atmosphere, he loves Ireland in general. From a big picture standpoint, Ireland will have no better ally in the world than America, it has always been that way, but even more so.”

Mr Trump said he would love to have his father visit Doonbeg again to see “everything we have accomplished”.

“If he is able to make it here, it would be great to have him.”

Mr Trump said that his father “gave up his life to do something incredible for his country. He has made real sacrifices to do what he has done – not many people in his position would do the same thing”.

Mr Trump said the Dooonbeg property “is doing great” and that the family had “put a tremendous amount of money into it”.

“We never stop. We love projects, we love building and we love making things beautiful and investing in our assets.”

Trump Doonbeg currently has a planning application before Clare County Council for a scaled down version of a coastal protection plan that was withdrawn by the golf club last year.

“If a certain part of the property is destroyed, you don’t have a viable hotel and the lights get turned off and I think people realise that. Of course, you want to see things happen faster and at the same time, I understand process and I think we are going to do very, very well in the process and especially because the community is 100 per cent behind the efforts.”

About 350 locals attended a public meeting on Monday to support the coastal protection plans, which Mr Trump said “put an amazing smile on my face and it validated everything we have done”.