Logo

Not all Irish eyes were smiling after the country’s prime minister invited President Trump to visit the Emerald Isle.

The since-canceled stopover during the president’s trip to Paris in November to mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I drew dozens of emails and letters to Leo Varadkar’s office urging him to withdraw the offer, the Irish Times reported on Tuesday.

“For all that is holy, please do not let Trump into Ireland,” said one person in an email, one of about 60 messages that were heavily redacted before being released under the Freedom of Information Act.

“I am absolutely appalled at you and our government’s invitation to Donald Trump to come on a state visit to Ireland,” another emailer told Varadkar.

“I am writing to state that you did not issue the invitation on my behalf, and you have now lumbered [burdened] a lot of people in this country who have better things to do, with protesting your decision and with protesting at the time of Trump’s visit. It was not your finest hour, far from it,” the message continued.

The correspondence was sent in the 11 days between when the prime minister extended the invitation and the White House canceled, citing “scheduling reasons,” in September.

One writer suggested Varadkar display signs to welcome first lady Melania Trump “and only Melania” and hire a band to play “‘There’s No One as Irish’ as Barack O’Bama” when the president arrives at the airport.

Not all of the heavily redacted messages were critical of the trip.

Some urged Varadkar to allow the visit in the interest of US-Irish relations.

One writer recommended that the prime minister keep the discussions with Trump, who owns a golf resort in Ireland, at a minimum, advising him to ask about “golf and the flight over.”

But Varadkar shouldn’t bring up his heritage as an Indian immigrant or that Trump once said Ireland was in the United Kingdom.

“This one was fairly embarrassing,” the writer said.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy