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LAST UPDATE | 12 Mar
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said Taoiseach Micheál Martin is “lucky” he wasn’t president when US pharmaceutical companies moved to Ireland as he would have placed 200% tariffs on them.
He added that Ireland is taking “advantage” of the US and has taken its pharmaceutical companies.
As Trump and Martin fielded questions from US and Irish media in the Oval Office today Trump was asked about the number of US pharmaceutical companies that have set up in Ireland.
“I looked at trade deals in term one that were so bad that I would say, ‘how could this have possibly happened, who would have been so stupid as to let that happen’?
“For instance, when the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said: ‘That’s okay if you want to go to Ireland, I think it’s great.
“But if you want to sell anything into the United States, I’m going to put a 200% tariff on you, so you’re never going to be able to sell anything into the United States.
“You know what they would have done? They would have stayed here.”
Trump also claimed that the EU was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States”, and when asked if Ireland was also taking advantage of the US, Trump replied: “Of course they are.”
“I have great respect for Ireland and what they did, but the US shouldn’t have let it happen, we had stupid leaders who didn’t have a clue what was happening and all of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies.
“Ireland has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grip.”
Trump then claimed that the US has a “massive trade deficit” with Ireland.
“Ireland was very smart, they took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents that didn’t know what they were doing,” said Trump.
“It’s too bad that happened.”
Trump then said that the Irish are “smart people” who “took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies”.
“We had presidents and people that were involved in this had no idea what they were doing,” said Trump, “and they lost big segments of our economy.”
However, Martin later pushed back and said “it was a two-way street” and that Irish companies are also investing more in America and that around 700 Irish companies are now based in America.
“I think it’s a very good relationship that we have, it’s a historic one and it’s one that we can develop into the future,” added Martin.
Trump was also asked about the Apple tax case and remarked that “Apple has been treated very badly”.
He said it “wasn’t a good lawsuit” and that the EU has “gone after our companies”.
During this exchange, Martin said that Ireland “fought” the EU in the case.
However, Trump placed the blame for this on the EU as opposed to on Ireland.
Trump then claimed that the “EU is after our companies”.
“I didn’t think that was a good lawsuit, we have a problem with the EU. We are going to win that fight,” he added.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that Ireland’s housing crisis is a result of Ireland “doing so well” and that “everyone should have that problem”.
He added that Martin was the person to solve the crisis.
Martin later said housing was the number one priority for Ireland.
The US president also said the Irish “love” him and that he “loves” Ireland too.
“If I drained Ireland of all the companies, maybe I would lose the Irish vote,” Trump told reporters.
“We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland, we want fairness,” he added.
Speaking after the meeting, Micheal Martin made little reference to Trump’s negative remarks, describing his meeting with the US President as “very positive”.
Martin said he was focused on presenting the narrative that there is a two-way trade relationship between Ireland and the US.
Speaking to reporters following the Oval Office meeting, he said it was “very clear that the president likes Ireland”.
“He has strong affection for the Irish people,” the Taoiseach added.
In a reference to Trump’s comments about Ireland “taking” US pharmaceutical companies, Mr Martin claimed that Trump was “particularly complimentary in terms of the Irish approach” in terms of economic management over the last number of decades.
“I think he put it in a fairly different way than perhaps people might have expected but nonetheless, he was clear.
“And he spoke about to us in terms of the impact of the Irish on the US, his own experiences in New York in terms of the Irish influence.”
Martin added that his objective had been to “try and present the narrative and the story that Ireland’s relationship with America is a two-relationship economically.”
The meeting comes amid heightened concern that Trump’s protectionist approach to tariffs and tax could pose a significant risk to an Irish economy that is in large part sustained by long-standing investment by US multinationals.
Martin earlier met with vice president JD Vance and invited he and his wife back to Ireland – having previously undertaken a road trip around Ireland in 2023 – and extended a particular invite to Martin’s native Co Cork.
“We would be honoured and delighted to welcome you both back to our shores before too long,” Martin said.
“Now, the vice president did say the road trip could be somewhat difficult next time around, given the number of vehicles that might have to be attached.”
And sporting a pair of shamrock socks which he showed to the room, Vance said: “The president is a very big fan of conservative dress, and so if he notices these socks, you have to defend this as an important part of cementing the Irish-American relationship.”
Martin thanked Vance for his “warm welcome and hospitality” and joked that he would need to “adjust very rapidly” his dress sense after seeing Vance’s socks.
Among those at the meeting were US health secretary Robert F Kennedy and Ireland’s ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason.
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