Trump heads home to US after Europe visit

US President Donald Trump departed Ireland for home on Friday, wrapping up a five-day trip to Europe that included visits to Britain and France to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Trump departed Shannon Airport in western Ireland bound for Washington following his first visit to the country since taking power in January 2017.

He reportedly squeezed in a round of golf at his luxury coastal resort, and met local schoolchildren, on Friday before heading home aboard Air Force One.

During his largely on-script trip, which included a state visit to Britain hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, the controversial president lauded the "unbreakable" bonds between Europe and the United States.

Trump joined a host of other world leaders in northern France on Thursday, as well as thousands of well-wishers, to pay tribute to the ever-dwindling number of veterans of the 1944 D-Day landings that turned the course of World War II.

That followed a gathering in Portsmouth, southern England, the previous day in which Queen Elizabeth led commemorations attended by Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau among others.

The US president had kicked off his travels on Monday, meeting the British monarch and other royals at Buckingham Palace, accompanied by a raft of his own family.

While in Britain, Trump courted some of the candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, speaking by phone to front-runner Boris Johnson.

A long-time cheerleader of Britain's departure from the EU, he also held talks with Nigel Farage whose Brexit Party topped recent European polls.

During a brief initial stop in Ireland before the commemorations in France, Trump told Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that the contentious Brexit issue of the Irish border would "work out very well".