U.S. President Donald Trump bade farewell to Ireland on Sunday, ending his two-day visit by announcing he will remove tariffs from Irish whiskey.
AP reports Trump used the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open to reveal he had been asked about the issue by everyone, including Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and even some of the golfers.
The crowd erupted into cheers and a round of applause at the news with Irish Open winner Shane Lowry among them.
The surprise trade move came a day after the U.S. president stirred controversy by calling for Irish reunification, as Breitbart News reported.
“Everybody’s been bugging me” to do it, the Republican president said. “And I said, ‘On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off’” of Irish whiskey.
Irish whiskey currently faces the standard 10 percent tariff imposed by Trump on most imports from the European Union, which was reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent in July.
Trump announced in April that he was lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whiskey, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland, creating an imbalance with Ireland, as international trade negotiation give-and-take go on.
He gave the UK its a tariff break after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House.
Director of the Irish Whiskey Association Eoin Ó Catháin rejoiced, saying the Irish whiskey sector is “delighted” with the announcement, RTE 100 noted. He said:
The U.S. is our biggest market, it represents thousands of jobs, millions in investments and it has been under pressure, I suppose, over the last year and a bit because of that tariff.
We’re delighted to see it removed.
We’ll continue to work with all of our colleagues in the U.S., in Brussels, here in Dublin to ensure this full tariff liberalisation will take place.
Irish Open champion Shane Lowry joked Irish distillers better send him a cheque following Trump’s announcement, the RTE 100 report went on to note.
Speaking at a press conference after receiving his Irish Open title, the golfer said he had attended a dinner with Trump but the president had not told him he was changing his plans to stay to watch him win, as had been suggested.
“He also announced he was removing tariffs on whiskey because of me … so distillers better start sending me a cheque,” he laughed.
Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates winning the Irish Open in front of President Donald Trump on the final day’s play at the Amgen Irish Open on September 13, 2026 in Doonbeg, Ireland. Trump made a two-day visit to Ireland this past weekend and as he left announced tariffs on Irish whiskey products would be axed. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Asked whether he had put pressure on the Republican president to lift the Irish whiskey tariffs, Lowry joked “I’ll take credit for that.”
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States also welcomed the move.
“This announcement is another positive step toward reducing barriers to spirits trade,” Chris Swonger, the council’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.
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