The Taoiseach is meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House later today.

It comes as part of the traditional St Patrick's events in Washington DC, and the meeting will centre around trade and immigration.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the American Ireland Gala Fund dinner in Washington DC. Picture by: Niall Carson/PA Wire/PA Images

After an initial bilateral meeting this morning (Washington DC time), the Taoiseach will return to the White House later in the evening for the annual shamrock bowl ceremony.

Leo Varadkar has said he doesn't plan to raise the issue of Russia during today's meeting, but may bring up LGBT rights.

The Taoiseach also plans to re-extend the invitation for Donald Trump to visit Ireland.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says he’ll invite Donald Trump to Ireland when he meets him tomorrow pic.twitter.com/3l9L3W1Awf

— Sean Defoe (@SeanDefoe) March 14, 2018

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Leo Varadkar said meetings of this sort typically last around 40 minutes, and so there's only a small amount of topics that can be covered.

He explained: "You have all the things that you really want to cover, and afterwards you always get asked 'did you mention this, did you raise that'... you can't cover everything.

"But very high on that list is going to be trade, and the risk of a drift in relationships between America and the European Union."