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Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Taoiseach of Ireland, Mar. 17, 2026

March 17, 2026 · The White House · 0:40:46

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump met Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Oval Office on March 17, 2026. “We have a tremendous trade relationship with Ireland, and we’ll keep it that way. I think it’s going to be expanded very greatly,” the President said, adding that tariffs might come up: “Probably they want to talk a little bit about tariffs, but I won’t mention that.”

Martin framed the visit through America 250: 35 million people in the United States claim Irish descent, three Irish-born men signed the Declaration of Independence, and, as he told the President, 23 American presidents have Irish blood — “Can you believe it?” the President asked. “Twenty-three Irish presidents.”

The meeting then took extended press questions on Iran. On a day-after plan, the President said: “if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we’re not ready to leave yet, but we’ll be leaving in the near future.” Asked whether the relationship with London had been damaged by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s lack of support, he said Starmer “hasn’t been supportive and I think it’s a big mistake,” as he stated it. He also noted Venezuela’s baseball team reaching the finals — “a lot of good things have happened to Venezuela lately,” as he put it.

Why it matters

The St. Patrick’s Day bilateral is usually ceremonial; this one put two administration positions on the record in an allied setting — an Iran exit framed as “the very near future,” and public displeasure with the British government’s support — alongside the trade-and-heritage agenda Ireland came for. It is recorded on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub.

Scoreboard watch

The President’s Iran timeline statement (“leaving in the very near future”; ten years for Iran to rebuild if the United States left now), as stated by the President, is recorded here for the weekly scoreboard.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting, Mar. 17, 2026,” The White House, March 17, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President and the Taoiseach at the meeting.