TAOISEACH Micheal Martin will be meeting Donald Trump twice this year, The Irish Sun can reveal.
The pair are scheduled for a reunion on St Patrick’s Day in the White House.
And they will see each other again at the G20 summit in South Africa this November.
Ireland is not a member of the G20 but Mr Martin is being invited as a guest of the South African government in preparation for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026.
Preparations are currently underway for the traditional St Patrick’s Day Washington summit.
The formal invitation from President Trump is expected in the middle of February, but behind the scenes diplomatic preparations are already underway.
Ireland is the seventh biggest foreign investor in the United States – bigger than Israel.
A Government source said: “We will be working to build closer ties with the Trump administration and to improve relations between them and the EU.
“The President has been briefed on the level of Irish investment in America and he knows how important that is to the American people.
“We don’t expect any hiccups in relation to the St Patrick’s Day meeting and all the indications are that it will go ahead as planned.”
President Trump has also been informed that he is welcome to visit Ireland at any time — either on a State visit or to his golf course in Doonbeg, Co Clare.
This comes as Tanaiste Simon Harris earlier this week insists Ireland can do business with the Trump administration.
An economic report from Goodbody Stockbrokers warned that Trump’s economic policies pose the “biggest vulnerability” to the Irish economy.
President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on EU goods travelling to the US with fears this could encourage American companies based in Ireland to start making their products in the States.
Officials in the Department of Finance fear Donald Trump’s policies will erode Ireland’s bumper corporation tax returns with US multinationals accounting for 83 per cent of our corporation tax.
However, Harris said the EU need to focus on improving trade and investment instead of just focusing on the US.
‘WE CAN DO BUSINESS’
He said: “It means engaging with President Trump in a way that I think he relates to about the benefits to the United States of America of doing business with the European Union and members states of the EU.
“I would respectfully point out when you look at trade in the round and when you include the issue of services it’s a very different or less stark picture to perhaps how it is somewhat presented in the US.
“So we can do business with the Trump administration. My country has done business with every US administration.
“There will be challenges. There will absolutely be challenges but we’ve got to control what we can control.”
