US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring March 2025 as Irish American Heritage Month on Thursday afternoon, March 6 - markedly later in the month than previous Presidents.
In the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Trump signed a number of Executive Orders, as well as the proclamations for Women's History Month and Irish American Heritage Month.
Lindsey Halligan presented Trump with the Irish American Heritage Month proclamation, telling the President that it was a "proclamation proclaiming March 2025 as Irish American Heritage month in honor of, to commemorate our amazing friendship between America and Ireland and to just honor all of the Irish Americans and I'm a little bit biased, because I am American and Irish."
Trump, signing the proclamation, said: "They're great people, great people."
Halligan added: "St. Patrick's Day is coming up as well."
While signing, Trump paused to claim: "And they voted for me in heavy numbers, so I like them even more.
"You have to like it, you know, you're not supposed to, but you have to like that."
Holding up the signed document, Trump said: "So for the Irish American people, proclamation."
You can watch Trump sign the Irish American Heritage Month 2025 proclamation here:
While there is no set date for the proclamation to be signed, the signing of this year's Irish American Heritage Month proclamation came later into March than during recent previous administrations.
The inaugural Irish American Heritage Month proclamation was signed on March 12, 1991, by President George HW Bush.
During their tenures in the White House, Presidents Biden, Trump (in his first term), and Obama all signed it by March 2.
Of the eight Irish American Heritage Month proclamations President George W Bush signed, all were signed by March 2 except for two - March 5, 2004, and March 4, 2005.
Aside from the inaugural proclamation, the latest in March the proclamation was ever signed was in 1994 when President Bill Clinton signed it on March 8.
US President Donald Trump receives the traditional bowl of shamrock from then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2017.
Trump signed this year's Irish American Heritage Month proclamation about a week before Irish politicians, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, will descend on Washington, DC for St. Patrick's Day engagements.
After weeks of speculation, the Taoiseach confirmed last week that he received an invitation to meet with Trump in the Oval Office for St. Patrick's Day.
Meanwhile, there have been calls for politicians across the island of Ireland to boycott the annual events in Washington, DC due to the US response in Gaza. Similar boycott calls were made last year during the Biden administration.
The calls for a boycott intensified after US President Donald Trump said he would like to see the people of Gaza "resettled" in other countries and that the "US will take over Gaza."
The SDLP in Northern Ireland and People Before Profit in Ireland have both announced that they would not be attending, as did Sinn Féin.
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