(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence came under fire Tuesday for staying at President Donald Trump's golf resort during his official visit to Ireland, despite most of his meetings with Irish leaders taking place more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) away in Dublin.
The vice president's staff defended the decision, noting that Pence - who is traveling with his mother and sister - has familial ties to Doonbeg, close to the Trump International course. Pence's European schedule was hastily rearranged, they said.
Pence told reporters on Tuesday that family ties meant he wanted to spend at least one night in Doonbeg.
“It's a fairly small place and the opportunity to stay at the Trump National in Doonbeg, to accommodate the unique footprint that comes with our security detail and other personnel, made it logical,” Pence told reporters. “We checked it with the State Department. They approved us staying there.”
Trump asked Pence to travel in his place to a World War II commemoration ceremony in Warsaw so he could remain home to monitor the response to Hurricane Dorian.
“We followed normal protocol,” Marc Short, chief of staff to the vice president, told reporters on Tuesday. He added that while Trump had recommended staying at Doonbeg, he didn't demand it.
Still, Democrats seized on Pence's decision to stay at Trump's golf club as the latest example of the president benefiting from taxpayer dollars at his businesses. Trump twice over the weekend visited his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, and last month said he was strongly considering holding next year's G-7 summit at his Doral golf resort in Miami.
Pence is expected to have a private family dinner Tuesday at Morrissey's, a pub and restaurant owned by a distant cousin, according to local media reports. Pence worked briefly at the pub, which is less than a 10 minute drive from the Trump International course, after graduating college.
Pence on Tuesday will fly an hour back and forth from Shannon to Dublin for meetings with Irish leaders.
To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Dara Doyle
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