Photos show St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at the White House through the years

In 1952, Ireland’s ambassador to the US, John Hearne, sent President Harry Truman a box of shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, and a tradition was born.

In 1961, Irish Ambassador Thomas J. Kiernan presented Kennedy with a basket of shamrocks and the Kennedy coat of arms with a family tree showing his Irish ancestry.

The Irish delegation also gifted him with a foot-high Waterford crystal vase engraved with a White House etching.

FitzGerald went on to serve as Taoiseach, the prime minister of Ireland, from 1981 to 1982 and from 1982 to 1987.

Reagan also accepted the traditional shamrock gift.

The leprechaun presented Reagan with a personalized shamrock.

The reception took place in the White House Rose Garden.

President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton posed with Irish Prime Minister John Bruton and his wife, Finola Bruton, in the Grand Foyer of the White House.

The two men also wore shamrock lapels.

First lady Laura Bush wore a green jacket in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

The group walked down the steps of the House of Representatives on their way to the White House for the shamrock ceremony.

Obama stood onstage with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s wife, Fionnuala Kenny.

President Obama also visited a bar and attended a St. Patrick’s Day lunch at the Capitol.

She paired the dress with Christian Louboutin snakeskin heels.

When asked if he would visit Ireland, Trump said, “I would love to visit Ireland soon, I will come, I love it, I have property there, I will go.”

St. Patrick’s Day had special significance since Biden was the first Irish Catholic president since Kennedy. He is known for often quoting Irish poets in his speeches.

Like many of his predecessors, Biden wore a green tie and shamrock lapel.

Vice President Kamala Harris also held a virtual meeting with Martin.

The Taoiseach was supposed to meet with Biden in person in the Oval Office and attend the yearly St. Patrick’s Day Friends of Ireland lunch hosted by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill.

Former One Direction member Niall Horan, who is Irish, performed at the Shamrock presentation.

During their Oval Office meeting, Trump said that Ireland “took our pharmaceutical companies” and that the European Union “was set up in order to take advantage of the United States.” Martin countered Trump, saying that the trade relationship between the two countries is “a two-way street.”

The day after Martin’s visit, the EU announced tariffs of its own on more than $28 billion worth of US goods. In response, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on European alcohol and called the European Union “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States” in a Truth Social post.

As of summer 2025, there is a baseline 15% tariff on most European goods imported to the US.

After having breakfast at the vice president’s residence, Martin met with Trump in the Oval Office, where the two leaders discussed the ongoing war with Iran.

When asked about rising prices in Ireland due to the US war with Iran, Trump said that he thinks the people of Ireland are “very happy that I’m getting rid of a nuclear power, a nuclear terrorist,” and that prices would “drop like a rock” when the war concluded.

Martin also addressed immigration, saying that while “no one is in favor of illegal migration,” Ireland’s population is growing “in a very positive way” because of new workers moving there, making the country’s economy “more robust.”