U.S. President Donald Trump offered Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin a jokingly qualified welcome to the White House’s annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Washington yesterday, saying that Ireland is among the countries taking advantage of the United States. Martin’s response was to cite Ireland’s many contributions to the U.S. while weathering a series of Trump’s bantering remarks, which included asides about the shamrock-themed socks worn by Vice President JD Vance and the recent move to Ireland by the U.S. comedian Rosie O’Donnel, known for her strong anti-Trump views.
It was Trump’s first Oval Office meeting with a foreign leader since his by now notorious shouting match with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During his appearance with the Irish Prime Minister, Trump reiterated his claim that the European Union was created just to stick it to the U.S. Asked by a reporter if Ireland was taking advantage, too,
Trump said, “of course they are. I have great respect for Ireland and what they did, and they should have done just what they did, but the United States shouldn’t have let it happen.” He was referring to the number of U.S. pharmaceutical companies drawn to Ireland by the country’s advantageous tax policies.
“We had stupid leaders. We had leaders that didn’t have a clue, or let’s say they weren’t business people, but they didn’t have a clue what was happening, and all of a sudden, Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies,” Trump added.
Pointing out that the trade relationship is “a two-way street,” Martin countered by noting that Ireland’s two largest airlines buy more aircrafts from the Boeing company than anyone outside of the U.S. Added to this, he observed, more than 700 Irish companies based in the U.S. have created thousands of jobs there — “a little known fact that doesn’t turn up in the statistics.” Indicating that he understood what had prompted Trump’s remarks, Martin assured the U.S. President that theirs was “a relationship that we can develop and that will endure into the future.”
When a reporter queried Martin why his country would let Rosie O’Donnell move there, Trump seized the opportunity to intervene, suggesting that Martin was” better off not knowing” about the comedian and former talk-show host with whom he has feuded for years. O’Donnell, who is gay, recently announced that she moved to Ireland in January, citing a lack of equal rights in the U.S.
As the meeting wrapped up, Trump, asked to name his favourite person in Ireland, cited the mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, partly because “he’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen.” He also noted that Prime Minister Martin’s father was an acclaimed boxer, and, looking at Martin, suggested that he did not look like a boxer. Not missing a beat in the final round, Martin replied, “I’m a pretty good defensive boxer.”
