Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
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.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The Taoiseach did an incredible job. Very impressed with his diplomacy and candour.
@Machine Learning IRE: I knew he wouldn’t let us down.
A lesson for all the 2nd rate pretender politicians.
@Machine Learning IRE: he used to be a teacher, so he’s used to dealing with children
@Machine Learning IRE: in fairness, he did very well.
@Fiona: childish comment !
@Fiona: He wasn’t speaking to a child. Libtard.
@kevin rock: What do you expect from far-left brain dead wokists?
@kevin rock: out of the mouths of babes!
@Kieran Conroy: I feel like I’m talking to a child right now. What are you doing up?
@Machine Learning IRE: agreed. The only senior government official I would trust to meet trump. You couldn’t have sent Simon or Micheal D, they would have made a show of the country. Not a fan of him but he showed pure professionalism and could not fault him.
The absolute state of ye in here offering up your congratulations for such soft soap plámásing. He sat and acted the good boy just like he always does when he meets his masters. Spinless wimp and you lot can’t stop drooling. Absolute traitor who’s selling Ireland down the river gets warm words from the slaves
@Darth O’Leary: I have no idea what you’re on about. This meeting didn’t make French news. Was it important ?
Anyways, what should he have done ; d’après vous ?
@offside again: You have no idea about most things tbf
Also, can I be the first to extend J.D. Vance the middle finger on the prospect of his being invited here. I seriously hope he is too busy to take up this offer.
@Numinous20111: Do you have a mandate to speak for the Irish people?
@Brian Hunt: he has my mandate. I never agreed to Mehole inviting that thing to Ireland
@Brian Hunt: he has mine
@Brian Hunt: Where did he say he was speaking for the Irish people? He said he would like to be the first to raise the middle finger, not that he was doing it on behalf of Ireland. N.B. He’s not the only one that will have that reaction to this news in Ireland, and unfortunately for him might not even be the first.
@Numinous20111: Your opinion doesn’t matter for at least 4 yrs libtard.
@Brian Hunt: The wokists in commie Ireland still think they’re relevant.
@Paul Harte: You don’t count. You’re brainwashed and woke.
@Karen Marten: Well he would KAREN wouldn’t he…Simple females are called ‘Karen’ for a reason.
@Kieran Conroy: I am called Karen as that is my given name by my parents get it right it’s A karen .. and here’s one for you Kieran the new male version of A Karen.
@Karen Marten: OK Karen love…Find a safe space pet…YOU are A Karen. You know it. Deal with it. Don’t be A Karen. Good girl.
@Paul Harte: nobody asked for your agreement, because nobody cares what you think.
@Karen Marten: this is the paradox of Karens: not all Karens are Karens, and not all Karens are Karens.
@Kieran Conroy: you must have been looking in mirror when you wrote that comment.
@Paul Harte: Childish comment but par for the libtard course.
@Karen Marten: well named though, your parents had foresight
@Karen Marten: rofl, Kieran! And I’m betting Kierans take steroids, wear tough guy t-shirts with mo ron ic slogans, sport weird face hair, and wear sunglasses on the backs of their heads. They also complain that women don’t like them very much, but that’s because those women are biatches.
@Numinous20111: Way to wind up the Irish branch of the MAGA Fanboys Association.
@Kieran Conroy: Childish ?? Reread your schoolboy comments. Everyone has the right to comment (when the section is open) but nobody has the right to belittle anyone. Not everyone agrees with your political views, so respect theirs.
@Paul Harte: You didn’t even use your vote.
@Kieran Conroy: dopey comment out of you to be fair
He was very tactical, well done to him.
I have never seen Mehole Martin look so irrelevant, painful to watch, what a weak Taoiseach
@Ross McAndrew: he’s doing a superb job. And I say that as someone who would never vote for him. He’s taking a lesson from Macron. And it’s going down quite well.
@Alan OConnor: absolutely car crash, he muttered something about Glanbia and Ryanair, that was it, a monumental disaster
@Ross McAndrew: It was painful to watch. Not sure what the protocol is re interrupting the President but I think he should have at least said” I wouldn’t agree with your point” and move on.
@john kenny: yeah, totally agree
@Alan OConnor: I agree .
@Ross McAndrew: And your first choice for a strong relevant Taoiseach would be?
@John Paul: anyone that isn’t from the utterly useless Fianna Fail party
@Ross McAndrew: He’s a school teacher, out of his depth.
@Ross McAndrew: What should he do? Wouldn’t have made much difference anyway.
@Ross McAndrew: the best of a bad lot at the moment. I’m not a fan of him but I think he did well.
@Ross McAndrew: not as weak as your trolling ross
@Ross McAndrew: to be fair that was a political master class i
@Ross McAndrew: 2000%
@Ross McAndrew: who would you have sent? Simon the sound bite? Lefty Micheal D who trump would have thought was a leprechaun?
@John Paul: If Michael D Higgins were young enough I’d have him in there any day .. Michael O’Leary would be an interesting one!
A temporary, irrelevant taoiseach from aliexpress
@Lei tatt: who would you prefer?
still time for the Burkes to pop up yet
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: a bad look, the family away on their holliers while poor Enoch wastes away in prison!
@Fiona: they’re down the lap-dancing club roaring with the drink now. Bless.
To all of the people giving out, What makes you think that you could do a better job and, if you can, then why aren’t you not in politics instead of giving out on here!
@Fiona Wyse: Probably because Mícheál Martin is the Taoiseach and it’s his job to represent the country, not ours. Could be wrong there though.
@Áine F: Good answer.
@Áine F: maybe Read Fiona’s message again before committing
@Fiona Wyse: Well said. Too many moaners on here!!
@kevin rock: I did, and the point still stands. If your only retort to any criticism towards the politician representing the country is “well if you think he’s so bad then why don’t you do better,” then they’re probably not doing a great job and you can’t defend them. Politicians are not godly beings above reproach, it’s their job to represent us and ours to tell them what we want. Toddlers understand this.
@Fiona Wyse: pay me €243,000 +60,000 expenses and I guarantee you I would leave Trump stuck for words stop defending Michael Martin he has been a disaster in Ireland, does nothing for the Irish has completely destroyed Ireland and you are commemorating the guy for it time you woke up and came out of the cave
Trump wondering how trade deals could have been so bad……like the US/Canada/Mexico trade deal he recently said was a lousy deal……the very same trading block deal he signed off on during his first term as president. The man is a unskilled BS merchant.
@Numinous20111: the Irish economy is backed by US tech and Pharmaceuticals with tax avoidance and evasion,how many billions are filtered through Irish accounts that the US should be getting,if that Irish companys avoiding paying tax in Ireland you’d be screaming for our leader to do something
@Billy Oniell: half the Irish companies aren’t even based in Ireland only on paper or pay tax in tax havens like jersey.
Record homelessness numbers in Ireland, and yet Mícheál Martin sat there and said nothing as Trump said that our housing crisis is a good thing. Zero pushback. A disgrace of a Taoiseach.
@Áine F: you should take over his job and fix it
What a waste of taxpayers money, sending that clown to Washington
@Ross McAndrew: I always find that people who whinge about taxpayers money are the ones who either don’t pay any taxes or take way more out than they put in.
@John Paul: good for you, thanks for sharing that nugget of interesting information
@Ross McAndrew: Indeed, what were the American people thinking electing Trump especially after the disaster that was his first term.
Trump seems to know very little about why American companies are based in Ireland. For many of those companies, Ireland is the European headquarters for pharma, along with many of the tech
companies who have been here for years. The language, where we are in Europe, our tax laws, to name a few.
Mehole is the one to solve the housing crisis? No he is the one who created it and then made it worse, also i dont know one irish person that loves trump, except for the minority of racist far right bigots and luckily i don’t know any personally
@he didnt take the 120k because he already got it split over 3 years: The entire point of this visit seems to have been for Mícheál to toss the gullible far-right and apolitical seals in Ireland a fish to distract from the countless crises in Ireland which he himself caused, and it seems to have worked because they’re all clapping in this comment section.
@he didnt take the 120k because he already got it split over 3 years: Who created the HSE as well, what crisis hasn’t he played a part in, no surprise that he got on so well with Trump. He should have thrown in how he is attempting to give those who formed the government speaking rights in opposition.
How did trump get planning permission in 4 weeks? Bet no journalists follow that one up. But he certainly said he did.
@bruce banner: If he did, it was well worth it!!
@bruce banner: And you believe Trump!
@bruce banner: trump doesn’t bother with detail and yet no press ever follow up with him. In most jobs he would have been sacked for his inability to grasp detail.
Tough job entertaining that orange clown but a lot of jobs at steak
@Derek O Gorman: Spell.
@Derek O Gorman: mmmmm steak, dinner sorted :)
@Derek O Gorman: at stake even!
@J B: your constantly boring predictions of Armageddon in the Oval Office seem to have backfired spectacularly
@Áine G: Pedantic prat!
@Áine G:
Ohh you are so smart onion
I was so so sure we were giving an opinion and then I realised you have us back at school onion
@Derek O Gorman: Mickey brought home the bacon.
@Derek O Gorman: You’re as thick as a sirloin steak.
@Derek O Gorman: Are you hungry? Did you ever attend school? ‘At steak’… FFS
@Ulick: Derek is far-left. Derek is woke. Derek is brainwashed. Derek can’t spell up to primary school level. Don’t be like Derek people…
@Derek O Gorman: fond of a nice stake myself
The reason we pay so much for our medicines in Ireland is that the government gave them carte blanche to charge the Irish customers what they wanted if they would set up here. MM would never tell you that but they didn’t come here for the weather. The readers who are gushing about this FF tool would do well to remember that.
@Gerry Lamont: absolute nonsense…..the Irish market is minuscule…..and is a blip on the large companies spreadsheet.Its all a conspiracy with people like you.
@John Paul: Nothing conspiratorial about it. If you drive a few miles over the border, no one pays a penny for prescribed medication, whereas that is not the case down here. It’s not a normal thing to pay money for medicine we need, and the fault is absolutely on the pharmaceutical industry and the government for incentivising them here.
@Áine F: it’s government policy that is “at fault”, not the pharmaceutical industry – they get paid for their product regardless, so it’s inconsequential to them if that money ultimately comes from the state, or from the general public
More a case of ; ” I nearly said something”
There’s no escaping it, Michael Martin was completely dominated by Trump in the meeting. It’s obviously a case of performing a balancing act while at the White House but this was utterly flat in every possible way. He’s such an irrelevant and weak Taoiseach and is not up to the standard required to attend these kind of important meetings. The point of this meeting was to curry favour with Trump, not accept every single that that he says. When you of the President of America even jokingly says that 200% tariffs could be slapped on the pharmaceutical products that you produce, it’s a clear sign that a carte blanche is in place. The only positive thing that came out of the meeting is that at least Trump and Martin agreed that the attempt by the EU to grab Apple’s money was shameful.
Playing a blinder. Fill Trump’s head with cake. The only way to deal malignant narcissist.
Well done Mr Taoiseach, credit when it’s due.
Trump says his handicap is +6
@Temp Stuff: I think that’s his IQ
A pox on the pair of them
Was an uncomfortable watch Trump is nuts
Trump is bully
Wonder how long that would last as Ireland produces most of the viagra and botox made globally, how long could the US suffer drooping faces and other body part
Good job Taoiseach! It requires great self restraint to talk to the American pumpkin. I must correct one thing though. Pharmaceutical companies would not move to USA even with 200% tariffs. They know that americans are so stupid they would have no problems paying even more for drugs and go bankrupt. It’s like an national sport in US!
@Adam Hernes: America is the richest country in the world. Take a look at how your country is disintegrating in front of your eyes.
@Ulick: ehh.. 30 trillion in debt.. ! ” richest country in the world” made me laugh.. cheers for that.
And m hole would have done nothing to stop him
Historic my backside Ireland and America I’ve always had a relationship. It doesn’t take Michael Martin to go over and present a bunch of Shamrock in order to continue that relationship to continue. There is more Irish in America than there is in Ireland so why would we need a head of state to continue to remind them of that
He just wanted a taxpayers expense trip before he was booted out of government next time
@Bren: No fan of Martin, but I’ve been hearing people talk of his and his party’s political demise for 3 election campaigns now, yet here he is with an even larger mandate after the last election.
@Bren: and pray tell…. Just who would you replace him with ? He wasn’t booted out in the last election…..
Does Trump actually do any research into any of these companies. All USA based with more than likely there European headquarters in Ireland. There still pumping their fair share in the US economy and certainly employing lots more
You cannot believe anything from Trump’s mouth, so you shouldn’t waste time trying to discuss it
@Ian McDonald: or Mehole either
Circus over move on
What was Mattie A@#hole McGrath TD doing there..
The streets of Dublin would confirm the point on pharm industry.
have your say