Inside Trump's controversial luxury golf resort in Ireland, where Pence spent US tax dollars and sparked outrage
While the vice president is at the center of this latest controversy, his connection to the small community in County Clare goes back further than 2019.
Pence's great grandmother hailed from Doonbeg, according to the Irish Times.
Source: The Irish Times
The then-Indiana governor and his family visited the coastal town in 2013, around a year before Trump purchased the golf resort.
Source: The Irish Times
The following year, Trump shelled out $29.2 million for the property.
In the book "Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Is Threatening American Democracy," professor and attorney Seth Abramson writes that the president may have overpaid for the property to the tune of $13.2 million.
The Irish Times reported that Fusion GPS founder and ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson testified under oath that he investigated the rumor that Russian mafia money seeded the Doonbeg golf resort.
Source: Irish Times
According to Simpson, financial statements don't explicitly "show Russian involvement."
Source: Irish Times
"What they do show is enormous amounts of capital flowing into these projects from unknown sources ... but it’s hundreds of millions of dollars," Simpson said, according to the Irish Times.
Source: Irish Times
One thing that is as clear as Waterford Crystal is that Trump's Irish golf course is a money hole.
Source: Irish Times
Abramson also wrote that the Trump plunked down $164 million to keep Doonbeg and his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland afloat between 2014 and 2018.
The Irish Times reported that the Trump Organization lost €2.2 million on the resort in 2016.
Source: Irish Times
Still, the resort's website claims it to be a "5 star destination," that caters to "golf enthusiasts, families, and surfers."
Source: Trump Hotels
In total, the lodge has 218 hotel suites and a spa. The Irish Times reported that the operation has a workforce of 300.
The most expensive "signature suite" that Business Insider found on the hotel's website cost €922 a night.
Source: Trump Hotels
Guests have a handful of Trump-owned dining options within the hotel, including afternoon tea, room service, Trump's Bar and Restaurant, and the Oceanview Restaurant.
Australian golf pro and course designer Greg Norman was the creative force behind the original golf course at Doonbeg, which opened in 2002.
Norman reportedly built the course "by-hand," meaning with minimal interference to the area's natural landscape.
According to "Commander in Cheat," Trump completely redid the entire course after purchasing the land.
To protect from climate change-induced erosion, the resort petition to erect seawalls in 2017. Trump has consistently expressed doubt about anthropogenic climate change.
Source: Business Insider, New York Times
Alleged mafia ties and Pence's recent stay aren't the only political scuffles that the Doonbeg estate's been caught up in.
Source: BBC
In 2018, Trump recounted how he lobbied Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in order to block the construction of renewable energy turbines.
Source: Leo: A Very Modern Taoiseach
Trump reportedly feared that the turbines would hurt his business at Doonbeg, according to Varadkar's recounting of the interaction.
Source: Leo: A Very Modern Taoiseach
The taoiseach said he reached out to Ireland's state tourism agency, relaying Trump's concerns.
Source: Leo: A Very Modern Taoiseach
The wind farm wasn't built, but Varadkar said that the request to build the structures along the coast "would have been refused anyway."
Source: Leo: A Very Modern Taoiseach
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