PRESIDENT Trump flew into Ireland at the weekend and everyone was delighted. Well, everyone in Doonbeg.
A village of 200 people, it’s received a huge injection of visitors since Trump took it over and especially since he’ s said he’d be going to see the Irish Open golf tournament at his Irish gem.
I can understand the gratitude of the village. As far as they’re concerned, Trump has awakened a dozy little place and transformed it to a growing centre with all its citizens feeling hope where they once felt... okay, not despair, but the most modest of ambitions.
Doonbeg and the response of its inhabitants are important because they show what happens when money meets principles: In many cases, principles crumble and minds turn a sharp 180 degrees. We may express our contempt for a village selling its soul to a lying brute of a man. But how would you respond if you were living in the US and Trump dangled $5,000 in front of your nose, dependent on Republicans being returned in numbers at the mid-term elections? Would you turn away in contempt at the very suggestion? Supposing you were struggling to get by, would you still turn on your heel and refuse it?
Trump’s proposed $5,000 bribe only puts in the open what has been implicit in any number of elections. Politicians and their parties run on a platform of some kind, and you may be sure that promises of better financial times ahead feature in those platforms. Even though we’re disillusioned time and again – lots of promises, limited delivery – we come back and suspend disbelief, tell ourselves this time will be different.
You think people vote on principles, not matters affecting their pay-cheque? Think of dyed-in-the-wool unionists faced with a border poll. If they could be guaranteed an enriched life – better pay, free health service from cradle to grave, economic growth – do you think there’d be a chorus of "No, we’d rather each grass?" Not a chance. There might be the occasional swivel-eyed loon who would welcome poverty if it meant remaining in the UK, but believe me, they'd be a very small bunch. Money matters. Why do you think Nigel Farage is filled with good humour as the millionaires and billionaires flood tens of millions into the Reform party?
Money may not be everything,but it’s very, very handy when you’re facing a mortgage bill or a heating bill or getting the car serviced.
Trump knows that and revels in that. He knows that JD Vance in 2015 called him a hind-quarters aperture (no, Virginia, blunter than that) and said he was essentially like Hitler. But when money was waved in front of him – the many opportunities coming from being beside the world’s most famous hustler – Vance experienced immediate conversion.
Those of us not living in Doonbeg can afford to grumble and point the finger at Trump and Doonbeg for cosying up to one another, but would you be joining the protests against Trump’s visit if he came to Doonbeg bearing gifts? As one resident put it “We’re not all in agreement with everything he’s done in the world, but he’s keeping our village alive.”
And credit where credit is due: Trump is a master of PR. A united Ireland would be “fantastic" and he loves the Irish so much he’s removing the 10% tariff on whiskey. And he was at the heart of cheering crowds, side-by side with Irish Open winner Shane Lowry.
It was almost enough to make you almost forget this bloated creature was and is a baby killer.
