After months of fevered speculation, it now emerges that Joe Biden will be keeping his visit to Northern Ireland rather brief.
The bulk of his four-day trip to the island of Ireland will be spent in the Republic as the US president soaks up his Irish ancestry.
An overnight stay and just one major engagement in Belfast on Wednesday are expected before he heads across the border.
Read more: Brendan Hughes: Loyalist gangs focused on drugs, not Windsor Framework deal
The shortness of the Northern Ireland leg of his journey came as a surprise to some, as the trip was timed to coincide with 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Does this, as some have suggested, amount to a snub? Not really. Instead, there are several different factors to consider.
Mr Biden was formally invited to Stormont, but it was unlikely that the US president would visit Parliament Buildings at a time when the power-sharing institutions have collapsed.
The US administration wants a good news story, so drawing attention to the DUP's boycott over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol by touring a dormant Stormont hardly fits the bill.
Focusing the trip in the Republic with a visit to Dublin, as well as counties Louth and Mayo where Mr Biden's ancestors hail from, will give plenty of positive coverage for American audiences.
Fewer engagements in Northern Ireland, with the expectation of just one carefully scripted keynote speech in the region, lessens the potential for embarrassing slip-ups.
The White House will not want a repeat of Mr Biden's gaffe in 2015 when as vice-president during St Patrick's events, he joked with the press, "Anyone wearing orange is not welcome in here."
His trip to Northern Ireland may have been longer if Stormont had been restored, but not rolling out the red carpet for Mr Biden won't at all hurt the DUP.
Some unionists are critical of the United States for its stance on Northern Ireland since Brexit, with Mr Biden's face previously appearing on anti-protocol posters in loyalist areas.
There are security concerns which the White House will have had to weigh up.
The US government will have been mindful of the raised terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland due to dissident republican attacks on police.
While Mr Biden was defiant in saying "they can't keep me out" when asked last month if the threat level affected his plans, it will no doubt have played a factor in preparations.
The visit is a year since Irish government minister Simon Coveney, whose face also appeared on anti-protocol posters, had to leave a Belfast event following a hoax bomb alert blamed on loyalists.
Mr Biden's visit will be pared back in comparison to his predecessors Barack Obama in 2013 and Bill Clinton in 1995, but either way it does not make a huge difference to the bigger picture.
The spectacle surrounding Mr Biden's visit, which will cost millions of pounds in policing and security, is in many ways a grand distraction from day-to-day issues.
US special envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy joining the trip and staying in the region for a longer period offers the potential of cultivating economic opportunities.
However, when the US president's motorcade rolls out of Belfast, cost-of-living pressures here will still continue to bite.
Stormont will still remain in stasis, while devolved government departments still have to grapple with swingeing cuts in the new financial year of up to 10%.
Taoiseach Leo Varakar said Mr Biden's visit to the island is about "welcoming a son of Ireland home".
A passing glimpse of the American dream is not going to solve our problems in the immediate future.
READ NEXT:
Brendan Hughes: Loyalist gangs focused on drugs, not Windsor Framework deal
Brendan Hughes: NI secretary offers DUP new escape route on Windsor Framework
Brendan Hughes: Stormont talent pool drained as NI Protocol stalemate drags on
NI Protocol deal analysis: Focus shifts to DUP as Windsor Framework is agreed
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
