U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday (September 13, 2026) at the close of a golf tournament in Ireland that he plans to remove a 10% tariff on Irish whiskey.

Mr. Trump said during the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open that he had been asked about the issue by everyone, including Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and even some of the golfers. Irish Open winner Shane Lowry was among them, Trump said.

“Everybody’s been bugging me” to do it, the U.S. 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 tariff imposed by Mr. Trump on most imports from the European Union, which was reduced from 15% to 10% 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.

Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement was met with loud whistling and cheers from the crowd of spectators. Details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.

Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called Mr. Trump’s announcement “another positive step toward reducing barriers to spirits trade” and said everyone would benefit from it during the coming holidays.

“As US hospitality businesses enter the critical holiday season, this action will provide a welcome boost for retailers, restaurants, consumers and the American economy,” Mr. Swonger said.

In May, the Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariffs to be removed, arguing that such a step would help many U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and avoid uncertainty for consumers.

Mr. Trump said on April 30 that he gave the United Kingdom a tariff break on whiskey after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House. “The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump posted on social media.

The Scotch Whisky Association said July 24 that the zero-tariff policy had come into effect.

 U.S. ​President Donald Trump on Sunday (September 13, 2026) reiterated his support for ⁠Northern Ireland breaking from the United Kingdom to unify with the Republic of Ireland, but said he would not talk about Scotland becoming independent “yet”.

Mr. Trump surprised officials in ‌Dublin and annoyed pro-British politicians in Northern Ireland and London by enthusiastically backing Irish unity during a visit to Dublin ‌on Saturday (September 12, 2026), saying he would “love” to see it happen sooner ‌rather ⁠than later.

“You have Northern Ireland and you have Ireland ⁠and it would seem to me that one of the ‘naturals’ of all time is to put them together,” Trump told reporters during a visit to a golf tournament ​at one of his resorts, ‌doubling down on his initial comments.

“You asked about Scotland. That one I won’t talk about yet. I’ll save that for another day,” he added.

Scotland, where the Trump family also owns a golf ‌resort, voted against independence from the rest of Britain in ​2014. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out another vote, as well as a referendum on Northern Ireland ⁠leaving the U.K.

Trump made his comments about Irish unity after a meeting with Micheal Martin, the country’s prime minister. In his first comments ‌since Trump’s remarks, the Irish premier said the response from some unionist politicians was “an overreaction”.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise. He takes a different sort of perspective on things,” Mr. Martin told reporters on Sunday (Septembe 13, 2026) after meeting Mr. Trump again for lunch at the golf course.

Mr. Martin said the pair discussed Northern Ireland and its relationship with the Republic of ‌Ireland and that he also went through with the president how the British-run ​region achieved peace.

A 1998 peace agreement ended three decades of violence between Irish nationalists seeking a united Ireland and unionists who ⁠wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the U.K.

“I support unity, ⁠I don’t see it happening now. I’ve been very clear about that,” Mr. Martin told BBC News in a separate interview.

“The ‌chances are if one (vote) was held next week, it would find great difficulty in getting through.”