US President Donald Trump turned his speech before employees and diplomats in Dublin into an area of family banter, addressing the changes that occurred in his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., after his marriage, and the absence of his wife, Melania, from the trip to Ireland.
Trump said that his son, Donald Jr., 48, has become a “different person” since his marriage to Bettina Anderson last May, joking that he “calmed down a lot” after the marriage.
During his speech at the US ambassador’s residence in the Irish capital, Trump said: “Don is here with a large group of family members. “He just got married, and he’s happily married, which is good.”
He added, amid laughter from the audience: “He has calmed down a lot, and this is a good sign.” “He became a different person.”
Trump went on to praise US Ambassador Ed Walsh’s golf skills. Welch is a real estate developer from New Jersey who previously resided in Bedminster, home to Trump’s expansive golf resort, which has also been one of the president’s favorite residences for years.
Trump continued jokingly: “This is a very easy ambassador’s job… All he has to do is play golf all day, and he does a great job.”
Trump also joked about his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, who stayed in Washington to participate in a ceremony commemorating the September 11 attacks at the Pentagon.
“My wife is here morally,” he said. She’s following us now, and told me to pass my greetings on because she’s so friendly. I asked her why she didn’t come with me, and she replied: It’s a 7-hour trip, and maybe I’m not that friendly.”
He added: “I told her: ‘Wear a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and come, let’s go… She sends her regards, and I have to say so.”
Trump had missed the wedding of Donald Jr. and Bettina Anderson, which was held in the Bahamas last May, due to his preoccupation with the escalating war with Iran.
