Most heads of state don’t enjoy an annual invitation to the Oval Office, but Ireland’s does. When prime minister Micheál Martin arrived for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day visit, he was warned about the Donald Trump-sized trap he was walking into.
Martin faced a “diplomatic balancing act” in talks with Trump, according to Reuters. Politico was more dire, writing that the meeting, normally a “diplomatic dream,” was this year “dangerous for Ireland’s America-fueled economy.” Martin, the outlet wrote, would be happy to merely “survive a brush with Trump.”
An Irish columnist at the event saw things differently. He told the Washington Free Beacon, which joined the White House press pool on Wednesday, that he expected the meeting to be friendly: Trump has a golf course in Ireland, after all, and “loves it.”
He was largely correct. Trump may have embodied the fighting Irish spirit throughout the meeting, but most of the punches thrown weren’t aimed at Martin.
Instead, he teased forthcoming economic sanctions on Russia and described Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer as “Palestinian.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), or “Pocahontas,” as he put it, was “sick.” And he shrugged off concerns over the Education Department’s plans to lay off half of all employees, arguing that many career staffers at the agency “never showed up to work, unfortunately. And that’s not good.”
Trump, greeting Irish PM, takes shouted question on new inflation report. “Very good news,” he says. @FreeBeacon pic.twitter.com/LAE5XuSiOF
— Collin Anderson (@CAndersonMO) March 12, 2025
Martin looked on in amusement. To be sure, Trump lamented the “massive deficit that we have with Ireland,” blaming his predecessors for allowing pharmaceutical companies to relocate to Ireland. Martin pledged to work with Trump on the issue and rattled off a list of Irish companies that invest in the United States.
Even when Trump turned to tariffs targeting the European Union, of which Ireland is a member, he was quick to emphasize that his problem is with Brussels, not Dublin.
“So I have a property, a big property, in Ireland,” Trump said. “And I was going to do a really beautiful expansion there, because it does really well. And I got the approvals from Ireland so quickly.”
“Then I was told something that bothered me. They said, ‘Sir you also have to get to the European Union.’ I said, ‘Why do I have to go to the European Union to expand a hotel that’s in Ireland?'” Trump continued. “I hired someone who said the process will be five to seven years, and I said, ‘Oh, really.’ … I’ll hand it to Ireland. You were so professional, so good. I don’t know why the European Union had to approve it.”
Tariffs aside, Martin may have expected to face pressure on Israel. Ireland’s relations with the Jewish state are frosty, with Israel closing its embassy in Dublin over the country’s “anti-Israel” stance in 2024. Martin himself has pledged to pass a bill, over U.S. objections, that would ban the importation of Israeli products from the West Bank. Trump, for his part, teased a plan to allow Israel’s annexation of the West Bank during his first term.
The topic arose when an Irish reporter cited the Irish bill and asked Martin if Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised it during his own Oval Office meeting last month.
“She’s definitely not from Israel, interesting question coming from you,” Trump interjected, describing Oct. 7 as a “terrible, terrible day” that Israel must “fight” and condemning everyday Gazans for their “pure hatred” toward Israeli hostages. His answer omitted Ireland.
Trump and Martin headed to the Capitol for a state luncheon full of rosy speeches and Riverdance performers. Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) played emcee as Martin called the United States and Ireland “most steadfast friends.” Trump brought the conversation back to golf, shouting out his incoming ambassador to Ireland, Edward Walsh, as a talented player who has “the best job in the world” because he can work from Irish courses.
“Hopefully we’re going to be doing this at least three more times,” Trump told Martin. “When I say at least, they go absolutely crazy.”
Later, the pair attended a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House, where Trump shouted out his Irish-American cabinet members, touted falling oil prices, and gave one last nod to his “property in Ireland, actually, that does really well.”
