The Trump administrations’ links to Ireland
St Patrick’s Day 2025 in the United States was a touchy affair for the political class in Ireland, with Conor McGregor invited to meet President Donald Trump on 17 March after Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD met the US administration the week prior.
Initially, Micheál Martin’s reserved manner in the Oval Office was widely praised as a “masterclass in diplomacy” after he visited President Trump on 12 March 2025, especially given that this was the first foreign visit hosted by the US Government since Trump and Vance’s infamous outburst against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump even gave the Taoiseach a useful excuse for the State’s housing crisis: “You know why they have a housing crisis? Because they’re doing so well. They can’t build houses fast enough. That’s a good problem, not a bad one.”
Trump, who boasted to the Taoiseach that “the Irish love Trump”, subsequently shocked Irish society on St Patrick’s Day by unveiling MMA fighter and convicted criminal Conor McGregor firstly in the White House Press Room, then later in the Oval Office.
McGregor used his time in the White House briefing room to tell an informal press conference that it was “high time that America is made aware of what is going on in Ireland”, adding: “The illegal immigration racket is running ravage [sic] on the country.”
For Martin, this will have been a considerable embarrassment to his government. With American right-wing media having fallen under the misimpression that McGregor is a serious candidate in the upcoming Uachtarán na hÉireann election in November 2025, Trump added insult to this already considerable injury by imposing tariffs on EU imports into the US.
Trump has spoken out on the Irish Government’s FDI strategy, explaining “Ireland was very smart, they took our pharmaceutical companies away.” However, a number of his leading officials, including his Vice-President, have very real links to this island.
