Washington (CNN) With fealty to President Donald Trump as his defining political trait, Vice President Mike Pence isn't typically the man in the spotlight. But his latest European jaunt has been marked with unfortunate headlines and questions about how far he's willing to go to please his boss.

Pence's trip was meant to show off his ancestry and bolster a key US ally. Now -- with one stop left -- the diplomacy has been overshadowed by ethics questions, and that ally, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is facing a political crisis of his own.

The vice president's problems began in Doonbeg, a village in Ireland with a population of less than 1,000, where he stayed for two nights at the five-star golf property owned by Trump. That required commuting 181 miles back and forth to Dublin, where he was holding meetings with government officials.

Faced with the first questions about why his office had picked that hotel -- "Were lower cost options explored? Any concern about the appearance of any conflict of interest here?" -- Pence's chief of staff Marc Short told reporters the President had suggested it.

When that answer only prompted more questions, Pence intervened. He said the move was because he had family ties to the town and it was the only place that could "accommodate the unique footprint that comes with our security detail and other personnel."

Read More