As the great and the good of Irish-America poured into Ambassador Geraldine Byrne-Nason’s impressively swanky residence in Washington DC on Tuesday evening for her annual St Patrick’s Day reception, Mr Spicer caught everyone’s attention as he walked around in shamrock print trousers with one green leg and one white leg.

In a meeting with Ireland’s prime minister, President Trump gave no hint of backing down from actions that have caused fissures in the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for a meeting with President Donald Trump, but tariffs and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza set political “land mines” for Martin, according to European policy expert Donatienne Ruy.