There is a chance the visit could still go ahead at a later date.
On Tuesday, it was reported that US President Donald Trump had cancelled his upcoming visit to Ireland, which was due to be part of his scheduled visit to Europe in November to participate in a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting in World War I.
However, immediately following this announcement, there had been some confusion as to whether it was indeed cancelled, as White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that they were still finalising the details of the Ireland visit as part of the Europe trip, stating: “The president will travel to Paris in November as previously announced. We are still finalising whether Ireland will be a stop on that trip. As details are confirmed we will let you know.”
However, later on Tuesday evening (local Washington time), the White House confirmed to the Irish ambassador that the trip to Ireland had indeed been cancelled due to “scheduling conflicts”.
RTE News report that sources in the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs have both said that the cancellation comes as something of a surprise to both Leo Varadkar and to the Government.
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