OAN Staff Break Wolf
1:24pm – Wednesday, March 12th, 2025
Ireland's Prime Minister Misial Martin met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration, leading Trump to discuss the imbalance of “large” trade between the two countries.
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Martin is an Irish Fianna File politician who has been working as Tao Sheech since January 2025, when he held his position from 2020 to 2022.
Through a meeting in the oval office, President Trump said, “The massive [trade] “We have a deficit with Ireland,” he added, working with Irish leaders to “go out as well as we can.”
The conference is responding to President Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports after the European Union announced that it would enact a $28 billion counter tariff on US goods starting next month.
“I'm not knocking on it. They're doing what they're doing for the EU, but that creates maliciousness and we know that we're going to do mutual tariffs,” Trump said. “The European Union is very strict and it's our turn. We'll turn with that too.”
Trump also spoke about the US-Ireland merchandise trade surplus worth around $44 billion in 2024.
President Trump had answered a question about whether Ireland is using the United States.
“I have great respect for Ireland, but the US should not have made it happen. We had a stupid leader, and a leader with no clue,” he said.
Additionally, Trump also spoke about the rapid growth of US pharmaceutical companies operating within Ireland.
“There are all pharmaceutical companies in Ireland that suddenly comes across. This beautiful island of 5 million people has an understanding of the entire US pharmaceutical industry,” he continued. “The Irish people are smart, clever people, you took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies, but through taxation, proper taxation, they've been very good for businesses to move there.”
“We don't want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do have fairness and [Martin] I understand this. ”
Meanwhile, Martin said foreign investment works both ways, and that Ireland is “investing more in America now.”
“I think there's room for these companies to grow in the US. By the way, many of them are already making pretty significant manufacturing investments now,” he said.
Before his meeting with President Trump, Martin attended a breakfast hosted by Vice President J.D. Vance, where he said the United States was “still friend of Ireland for centuries.”
Martin praised Ireland's relationship with the United States, declaring that he “we are ready to play our part in supporting our work to end conflicts and ensure peace in Ukraine, the Middle East or anywhere.”
During breakfast, Vance characterized the relationship between the United States and Ireland as “one of the great alliances and great friendships between nations.”
“One of the more robust areas we will be working with our friends in Ireland over the next few years is to become technology, especially artificial intelligence,” Vance said.
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