His visit will follow his former boss, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday as part of a tradition where the Irish leader hands over a bowl of shamrock to mark St Patrick's Day, which is on March 17. Martin was the first European leader to meet Trump since his infamous Oval Office interview with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
McGrath's advisers confirmed that he is in Washington for two days. He also has meetings with businesses scheduled.
McGrath's current boss, Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, previously canceled a planned trip to Washington this week where she had tried to arrange a meeting with Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook.
Michael McGrath's visit will follow his former boss, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who meets with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday. | Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
The EU's tech rules have become a transatlantic sore point with Trump joining tech chief executives in complaining about EU enforcement, even threatening tariffs in a Feb. 21 memorandum on “defending American companies and innovators from overseas extortion and unfair fines.”
The European Commission has deadlines this month to wrap up digital competition probes into Apple, Meta and Google that could result in fines.
This article has been updated.