Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

Trump news: US President stops in Shannon airport for meeting with Irish PM Leo Varadkar after D-Day celebrations

Mr Trump's Ireland visit includes golfing at a resort of his

Donald Trump tells Irish Prime Minister 'it'll work out well with your wall, your border'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump has arrived in Ireland, having attended a D-Day memorial event in Portsmouth with the Queen and other world leaders. He then headed off to play golf at his club in Doonbeg.

Prime Minister Theresa May had hosted 15 world leaders to honour the largest combined land, air and naval operation in history, with Mr Trump also holding a brief "pull-aside" meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Mr Trump, who met Conservative leadership candidate Michael Gove on Monday it has been revealed, has faced criticism over his claims that “big crowds” turned out to support him on his state visit while organised protests against him flopped, in the face of images appearing to showing thousands of people opposing him.

The visit to Ireland follows after Mr Trump's second state visit to London, where he was met with considerable protest — and then denied that protest was happening.

The US president met with the Queen and other dignitaries for a state banquet on Tuesday evening, with everyone dressed to impress at the formal dinner.

Mr Trump's visit to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, while serious, also did not stop him from sending off some questionable tweets during the trip.

He will soon return to the US, where controversy in Washington has developed over the past week since he announced potential tariffs on Mexican goods.

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

Donald and Melania Trump alongside the Queen and Prince Charles during D-Day commemorations (Mandel Ngan/AFP) 

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:38

And here are all the aforementioned leaders.

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:39

A giant, custom-made blimp resembling Donald Trump as a baby was flown in Parliament Square to mark the president's state visit to the UK, for the second time in two years, writes Matt Murphy.

The group behind the balloon, known simply as "Trump Baby", said they think it brings "joy" to those protesting the US president's state visit.

Not everyone was convinced however, with some striking back at the idea on social media and one person taking their frustration out on a smaller version of the balloon itself, piercing it with a sharp object.

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:46

Mr Trump is now reading his excerpt.

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:48

...And he's done. All by the book.

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:51

Mr Trump's reading was followed by the reading of a letter home from an American GI, which was itself followed by a musical and dance performance.

Jon Sharman5 June 2019 11:53

Here's a few more of the president's tweets from this morning, apparently composed on route to today's ceremony.

His mind does appear to be on anything but the charms of Portsmouth.

Joe Sommerlad5 June 2019 12:11

This was President Trump on stage earlier reading Franklin D Rooselvelt's address to the US the night before D-Day.

Joe Sommerlad5 June 2019 12:25

This is what's going on back in Washington in Trump's absence:

- The White House has told former Trump advisers Hope Hicks and Anne Donaldson not to comply with the House Judiciary Committee's request for sensitive documents related to their tenure in the latest instance of stonewalling by the administration

- The House Intelligence Committee is holding a hearing today on the national security implications of climate change, which Trump has lately dismissed as a "change in the weather"

- House speaker Nancy Pelosi is under renewed pressure from her fellow Democrats to pursue the president's impeachment, not appeased by the House's plan to hold attorney-general William Barr in contempt of Congress or the Judiciary's upcoming Mueller report hearings

Joe Sommerlad5 June 2019 12:35

The Queen is speaking now, with Trump at her side.

Write your own caption.

Joe Sommerlad5 June 2019 12:37

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in