{"id":299538,"date":"2026-02-15T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/299538\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T15:43:08","slug":"taoiseach-gave-trump-personalised-golf-set-during-last-years-st-patricks-day-visit-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/299538\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach gave Trump personalised golf set during last year\u2019s St Patrick\u2019s Day visit \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> presented US president Donald Trump<\/a> with a custom golf tee and marker set at a cost of nearly \u20ac735 during his visit to Washington DC for St Patrick\u2019s Day<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

The luxury item, which came in a personalised wooden box, was one of around 140 gifts worth a total of \u20ac5,709 given out by the Taoiseach during 2025, internal records have revealed.<\/p>\n

They included a biography of Charles Haughey<\/a> presented to former US senator George Mitchell last April, and 30 scented candles gifted to EU leaders at a cost of \u20ac934 during a visit to Brussels just before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/a> received a bottle of Green Spot premium whiskey from Martin during a meeting at Shannon Airport in February 2025, along with a merino scarf worth \u20ac37.80.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian leader got another bottle of whiskey from the Taoiseach when they met again last December. On that occasion, it was a bottle of 12-year-old Redbreast costing \u20ac64, along with a boxed set of Galway Crystal whiskey glasses worth \u20ac45.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy was also presented with a statue of the Children of Lir, which cost \u20ac270, while his wife, Olena, was given a silver brooch worth \u20ac63 and a moss-green linen scarf from The Stable that also cost \u20ac63.<\/p>\n

More than \u20ac2,700 was spent on gifts for Martin\u2019s trip to Washington DC for St Patrick\u2019s Day last year. The shamrock bowl alone cost \u20ac425, while first lady Melania Trump<\/a> was given a Government harp brooch worth \u20ac148 and a Bord Bia hamper.<\/p>\n

Vice-president JD Vance<\/a> was presented with silver cufflinks valued at \u20ac185, while his wife, Usha, received a Meab Enamels silk scarf costing \u20ac55 and a Bord Bia hamper.<\/p>\n

The vice-president\u2019s three children, Vivek, Ewan and Mirabel, were given picture books titled Let\u2019s See Ireland and The Salmon of Knowledge, as well as Paddy Pals teddies called Padraic the Farmer and R\u00f3is\u00edn the Dancer.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0St Patrick\u2019s Day trips: See which countries Ministers are visiting this yearOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Martin also bought gifts for the staff of Blair House, where he stayed in Washington, as well as Trump\u2019s chief of staff, the chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, along with a number of governors, congressmen and officials.<\/p>\n

Former Garda commissioner Drew Harris<\/a> was given a book titled Ireland\u2019s Curious Places and a silver Government Buildings bookmark worth \u20ac68 around the time he announced his retirement last year.<\/p>\n

Just before he was replaced as taoiseach by Martin in January 2025, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris<\/a> gave his deputy leader, Helen McEntee<\/a>, a silver Government Buildings brooch worth \u20ac68.<\/p>\n

Aide-de-camp Comdt Claire Mortimer was given Dublin Crystal engraved coasters by Simon Harris in January 2025, as well as a Government Buildings soy candle, engraved wooden pens and a coffee mug by Miche\u00e1l Martin in April.<\/p>\n

Details of the gifts were released by the Department of the Taoiseach<\/a> under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin presented US president Donald Trump with a custom golf tee and marker set at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6231,141970,969,83118,141969,61,60,5461,1843,43,63762,58419],"class_list":{"0":"post-299538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-charles-haughey","9":"tag-department-of-an-taoiseach","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-drew-harris","12":"tag-george-mitchell","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-jd-vance","16":"tag-micheal-martin","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-st-patricks-day","19":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}