OTTAWA—Former prime minister Brian Mulroney and musician David Foster made for an unlikely Canadian duo to entertain Donald Trump and guests at his Florida estate Saturday night.
With Foster, the famed songwriter and producer, on the keyboards, Mulroney took to the stage and performed, “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” to audience that included Trump.
It was an encore performance for Mulroney, who famously sang that tune with President Ronald Reagan at the so-called Shamrock Summit in Quebec City in 1985.
This time, it was Foster who coaxed the Mulroney onstage for what appeared to be an impromptu performance at a cancer fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, the private club owned by Trump that also serves as his Florida home.
But the “Discovery Celebration” event for a Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute had become a flashpoint since Trump’s election and sparked calls for it be moved or cancelled.
The institute said it was too late for scrap the event for this year but said it would avoid “controversial venues” in the future.
Foster told the crowd that the two had been at the home of Andrea Bocelli the previous evening, where Mulroney also sang. The Italian tenor told Mulroney, “you have a great voice,” Foster said, according to a video posted on social media.
He introduced Mulroney as “my prime minister” and gave the former prime minister the choice of singing “Danny Boy” or “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.”
Mulroney, dressed in a black tuxedo, came on stage and joked, “Mr. President, I hope this doesn’t fracture Canadian-U.S. relations. . . I apologize in advance for it.”
But the performance got a warm reception as members of audience sang-along with Mulroney and gave him a round of applause at the end.
Foster was billed as the star attraction in an “elegant evening of dinner (and) excitement” at the fundraiser.
According to one report, Trump entered the room just as Foster’s performance began.
The institute had held its fundraisers at the Palm Beach club in the past six years but this year’s event had attracted criticism and even calls to cancel in the wake of Trump’s election as president.
In January, just days after Trump took over as president, the institute acknowledged the concerns but said it was too late to cancel the fundraiser which had been planned “months in advance.
“Contracts have been signed, and a large number of people have committed to attend. Cancelling the event outright would only deny much-needed resources for research and care,” the institute said in a statement.
But just over a week later, the institute released a second statement, saying it never meant the fundraiser to become “any type of political statement or endorsement of any political figure or policy position.”
And it said that cancelling the event at the last minute would itself be seen as a political statement.
“Our goal is to stay out of politics. Cancer affects everyone, and we are a non-partisan, non-profit healthcare institution,” the statement said.
“Because this event has become such a lightning rod for some, in the future we will avoid controversial venues that may distract from our focus on cancer care and research,” it said.
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