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 an audience that included Trump.It was an encore performance for Mulroney, who famously sang that tune with former U.S. president Ronald Reagan at the so-called Shamrock Summit in Quebec City in 1985.This time, it was Foster who coaxed 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 to be moved or cancelled.The institute said it was too late to 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 the 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.Accordin ...
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