DUBLIN — Conor McGregor, the mixed martial arts fighter recently found civilly liable for rape back in his native Ireland, is a St. Patrick’s Day guest of honor at the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, appeared Monday alongside McGregor at the podium in the White House briefing room and confirmed that the Dublin fighter is meeting Trump and other unidentified administration officials.
“We couldn’t think of a better guest to have with us on St. Patrick’s Day. We’re both wearing our green,” Leavitt said, gesturing to McGregor, who was actually wearing an all-gray pin-striped suit and matching vest.
McGregor’s appearance at the White House is not a total surprise, given Trump’s promotion of far-right and anti-immigrant voices.
McGregor — who is a divisive figure in his native Ireland but has a huge following among conservative white American men — says he wants to run for Ireland’s presidency later this year on an anti-immigration platform.
He is considered a long shot to be included on the official ballot for the election tentatively scheduled for October, given that candidates require official backing from at least 20 sitting members of parliament or four local councils.
Privately, officials in Dublin were aghast that Trump would give a spotlight to a figure widely credited with whipping up hatred against non-white foreigners, particularly when the Irish capital was struck by rioting in November 2023.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, just back from the U.S. and his own visit to the White House, said McGregor’s views on immigration “do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day or the views of the people of Ireland.”
Foreign Minister Simon Harris, in New York City for St. Patrick’s Day events there, stressed that Trump is “perfectly entitled” to invite anyone to the White House — but said McGregor has “no mandate” to speak for Ireland.
During Trump’s Oval Office meeting last week with Martin, the U.S. president was asked who his favorite Irish person was — and he identified McGregor.
McGregor regularly criticizes the Irish government, judges and immigration system in his social media messages. He used his time in the White House briefing room to tell an informal press conference that it was “high time that America is made aware of what is going on in Ireland.”
“The illegal immigration racket is running ravage [sic] on the country. There are rural towns in Ireland that have been overrun in one swoop,” he said, minutes before the official White House account posted his St. Patrick’s Day greeting and other approving tweets.
In November, a Dublin jury of eight women and four men found McGregor, 36, civilly liable for the rape of a woman in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. He was ordered by the judge to pay the victim nearly €250,000 and also to surrender video evidence that he and supporters were threatening to circulate on social media denigrating the victim. He also has been ordered to pay most of the victim’s legal bill topping €1 million.
McGregor is appealing the judgment.
This story has been updated.
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