Ireland cheats the US—that's what Donald Trump claimed during his St. Patrick’s Day meeting with Irish PM Micheál Martin at the White House. Trump accused Ireland of taking advantage of the US by attracting pharmaceutical companies with tax policies. Martin countered, highlighting Ireland’s economic contributions to the US. Their exchange sparked global debate.
#Trump #Ireland #TradeWar #USPolitics #StPatricksDay #DonaldTrump #MichealMartin #TradePolicy #EconomicTensions #TaxHavens #USIrelandRelations #TrumpSpeech #EUTrade #PharmaIndustry #RosieODonnell #ConorMcGregor #Boeing #JDVance #USNews #WhiteHouse
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#Trump #Ireland #TradeWar #USPolitics #StPatricksDay #DonaldTrump #MichealMartin #TradePolicy #EconomicTensions #TaxHavens #USIrelandRelations #TrumpSpeech #EUTrade #PharmaIndustry #RosieODonnell #ConorMcGregor #Boeing #JDVance #USNews #WhiteHouse
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NewsTranscript
00:00Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States,
00:03accompanied by the Taoiseach of Ireland and Mrs. Martin.
00:06Well, thank you very much.
00:30It's a great honor.
00:31Great people.
00:32A lot of Irish friends right there.
00:35A lot of very, very good Irish friends.
00:38But thank you all for being here.
00:40Even though it's still a few days away,
00:42I want to be the first to wish each
00:43and every one of you a very happy St. Patrick's Day.
00:47It's a big day.
00:49And as a lifelong New Yorker,
00:51nobody knows the Irish better than me.
00:54I know too much about the Irish.
00:57So let me begin by saying I really do.
01:00I love the Irish.
01:01I've had great, great friends over the years,
01:03and I love the Irish.
01:04Special people.
01:06And I've been to Ireland many times.
01:07I have a lot of property in Ireland, actually.
01:10And it does very well, so I like it.
01:12If it didn't do well, I wouldn't like it.
01:14But I'm always struck by the awesome beauty
01:18of the Emerald Isle and the strength and warmth
01:21and grit and grace of the Irish people.
01:24Very few people can compare.
01:26Today, we're delighted to welcome Taoiseach
01:29Michal Martin, a very special man,
01:33doing incredibly well and very popular,
01:36and his beautiful wife, Mary.
01:38And I want to thank you both for being here.
01:39The first official visit to the White House.
01:42So thank you very much for being here with us.
01:45Thank you. Thank you.
01:47I also want to extend a special welcome
01:54to Ireland's ambassador to the United States,
01:57Geraldine Boone.
01:59And you — where are you, Geraldine?
02:01You are at Geraldine Boone Nation.
02:04And you're going to be working with this gentleman right here.
02:07He's a very great golfer,
02:09one of the best golfers that you'll ever see.
02:12He'll be playing golf all day long with —
02:14he'll take clients out to play golf.
02:17But he's won many, many club championships.
02:19And, Ed Walsh, congratulations.
02:21Great. Great. It's going to be great.
02:26We're grateful also to be joined by the members
02:30and many members of our Cabinet.
02:32Proud Irish-Americans, Sean Duffy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
02:38Where's Robert F. and Sean? Hi, Bobby.
02:42I knew that — let's see, Duffy we knew, and Kennedy we knew.
02:46Some of you, I wasn't as sure.
02:47Pam Bondi — I don't know, are you Irish?
02:49Are you Irish?
02:51With that name, I can't even figure that out.
02:53She's doing a hell of a job, I'll tell you that.
02:55Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Energy.
02:58Secretary of Energy.
03:04Chris, right now, you're doing a good job.
03:05You see, the oil is going down. It's going down.
03:08Sixty-five dollars a barrel today.
03:11You're doing better than I even thought
03:12because everything else is going to be coming down
03:15with all those expensive goods
03:17that you had to suffer with for four years.
03:19They're all coming down. Energy leads the way.
03:21Thank you. Good job you're doing with our friend, right?
03:26HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
03:28You're not Irish, Scott. Give me a break, Scott.
03:31You know, I want to be politically correct
03:33and not mention it, but I'm going to say,
03:35how much Irish do you have in you, Sean?
03:37I don't know. He said zero. That's right.
03:41Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins.
03:45Thank you, Doug. You're Irish.
03:48EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
03:51He's one of the most important guys.
03:53He's going to get those approvals.
03:56A nuclear power plant will take less than two weeks
03:59to get approved, right, Lee?
04:01It used to take 15 years.
04:04We're going to do it in a couple of weeks.
04:06U.S. Trade Representatives Jamison Greer.
04:10Where are you, Jamison? Jamison Greer.
04:12Thank you, Jamison.
04:15And I also — there's a very special man here
04:18that I've been watching a long time,
04:20one of the greatest dancers ever in the world.
04:23Michael Flatley is around here somewhere.
04:25There's nobody like this guy. Great, Michael.
04:31I've watched him. Radio City. I've watched you a lot, Michael.
04:34His feet, the way they moved.
04:35I don't know how the hell you do it.
04:37Can you still dance like that, or is Father Time caught up?
04:42You know, Father Time has never lost.
04:43You know that, right?
04:45But you're doing — you're doing great.
04:47You look fantastic. Also with us,
04:49our representatives John McGuire.
04:52John. Hi, John. Good.
04:56Bill Heisinger. Bill, thank you.
05:00Ronnie Jackson — Doc Ronnie, as I call him,
05:02even though he's a congressman. Special guy.
05:05John Joyce. John. Thank you, John.
05:10David Joyce. David. Thank you.
05:14And Guy Resenshawlar.
05:19You know that Resenshawlar.
05:22He's — that's actually the way you pronounce it, you know.
05:25Nobody else gets it right. I got it right.
05:27But it's a — it's a hell of a name.
05:29But despite that, he's very successful at what he does,
05:31which is politics. And he's a great guy.
05:34Thank you, Guy. We have come together
05:35to this beautiful White House this evening
05:38for the annual shamrock ceremony,
05:41a living symbol of the long and unique friendship
05:43between Americans and the Irish.
05:45And we're always going to have that friendship,
05:47just like we have a great friendship.
05:49We'll always have that very special friendship.
05:52This wonderful tradition dates back to 1952,
05:55when the first Irish ambassador to the United States
05:59sent President Truman a box of shamrocks
06:02as a gesture of goodwill.
06:03You hear that, Walsh? The first. You're not the first.
06:06You're — I don't know what you are.
06:08What number are you? Do you have any idea?
06:11It's been a long time, right?
06:12Let's see. I could figure it out pretty easily.
06:15The bond between our nations is the old America itself,
06:18and it is as old as our country.
06:21So many Irish volunteers risked their lives
06:24in the American Revolution,
06:25and George Washington described Ireland as, quote,
06:29the friend of my country in my country's most friendless day.
06:33Meaning Ireland stuck with us when we were not doing so well,
06:37when it was looking pretty bad.
06:39Irish heritage gave us the boldness of Andrew Jackson —
06:43I didn't know Andrew Jackson was Irish —
06:45the brilliance of F. Scott Fitzgerald,
06:48Henry Ford, and Walt Disney,
06:50and the leadership of the late, great President Ronald Reagan.
07:00It was men and women of Irish descent
07:03who built the hallowed halls of Notre Dame University.
07:07Notre Dame is great. What a great place.
07:09The legend of the Boston Red Sox
07:12and the Golden Arches of McDonald's.
07:14That's right. Today, one in every 10 Americans
07:17trace their roots back to the old country.
07:19We're discussing — we have 5 million people living in Ireland,
07:23but we have 35 million people living here,
07:26right, of Irish descent.
07:27That's a pretty interesting statistic.
07:29I was looking at all these great dancers over here.
07:32You are very beautiful.
07:34Are you all great dancers? Right? Look at that.
07:37Young, great dancers. Wow. That's great.
07:43Did you perform for the group before?
07:46Because I heard somebody was doing really a fantastic —
07:49they said, these people are fantastic.
07:50I didn't get to see you. Do you want to do it again?
07:53Okay, well, we might have them do it again.
07:57I heard you did a fantastic job. Thank you.
07:59As we celebrate Irish-American Heritage Month,
08:02we're grateful to be joined by hundreds of these proud patriots
08:06right here today.
08:07And I know from personal experience
08:09that many of the people that we have here, they're just fierce.
08:13They have fierce Irish flame, we call it.
08:16You never give up. You never, ever give up.
08:19Oh, I even see Don. Hello, Don.
08:21You are definitely Irish, Don McGahn.
08:24You are definitely an Irishman. There's no question about that.
08:28But you never give up.
08:29We will never give up, ever. Right?
08:30For the young ones, ever.
08:32Because you never know what's going to happen, you know?
08:34Just a little bit more effort and you get there.
08:37Look at what happened to me.
08:39A lot of people said this was not a possibility.
08:46They said that was going to be a tough race
08:48and we wanted a landslide.
08:49And let's keep it that way, right?
08:51And we're having a great time bringing our country back
08:54and bringing it back at a level that people had no idea
08:58was going to take place this rapidly, this quickly.
09:01And a lot of our great people that are secretaries
09:03and the people working in the administration are here
09:05and they're doing a fantastic job.
09:08So I want to thank all of you.
09:10Five blocks east of where we are today,
09:12that spirit once helped save the very heart
09:14of the city's Irish-American community.
09:17You all know about it. During the War of 1812,
09:20British forces rampaged through the streets of Washington,
09:23burning every building in their path.
09:25Every single building was being burned down.
09:28Almost every one fled, but not Father William Matthews
09:33of St. Patrick's Church,
09:35which was built to serve the Irish workers
09:37who came to build the Capitol and the White House.
09:40They were building the White House
09:41and they formed a great bond.
09:43And they were doing pretty important buildings,
09:47the White House and the Capitol.
09:48I would say that's about as good as it gets.
09:50As the fire spread, the priest and the group of his parishioners
09:55said that we're just going to have to barricade ourselves in.
09:59We're going to have to do something because it's really bad.
10:01It's really dangerous in here.
10:03And inside the church, they climbed to the roof,
10:06armed with only buckets of water.
10:08That's the only thing they had.
10:09And the other thing they had was faith in God.
10:12They had a big faith in God.
10:13They said, God will never do this to us.
10:16Risking their lives, they defended the church.
10:18And more than two centuries later,
10:20St. Patrick's still stands as a beautiful testament
10:23to their incredible resolve and bravery.
10:26And the patron saint of the Emerald Isle,
10:30and that's what it is, St. Patrick.
10:32So we have St. Patrick's Day and we remember their courage
10:35and we honor the bravery of countless Irish Americans
10:38who have kept our country safe, strong, prosperous, and free.
10:42And I made a little talk with my friend
10:45right behind me before at the Capitol,
10:48and they gave me one statistic that they don't have here.
10:51I thought it was an amazing statistic.
10:54Fifty percent of the people
10:56that won the Congressional Medal of Honor were Irish.
11:01Can you imagine?
11:03And I want to check on that because that sounds to me
11:07that's — you know, it's just — I want to —
11:09Pam, would you please have that investigated?
11:11Because how is that possible?
11:13Seriously, how is that possible?
11:16I was very surprised to see that, Mary.
11:18Would you agree that that's possible?
11:19With the Irish and everything.
11:21With the Irish — no, think of it.
11:23The Congressional Medal of Honor
11:25is the highest award you can get in this country.
11:29And 50 percent — well, then you also have
11:32the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
11:33But I will say, the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
11:36it's much easier to — I mean, you know,
11:40you get it for achievement in something.
11:41But you don't have to take many, many bullets,
11:45although there has been one bullet that was —
11:48there's been one bullet that was not too good.
11:50I'm the only one in the presidential that got that.
11:55But think of that.
11:56Fifty percent of the people
11:58that received the Congressional Medal of Honor
12:01had Irish heritage
12:03and were involved in some form with the Irish.
12:06And that's pretty good. That's a pretty big statement.
12:09In closing, I want to remember one more Irish-American patriot
12:13our nation lost this week.
12:16In 1979, Anthony R. Dolan — some of you know that name.
12:20A lot of the people that work in the White House
12:22know it very well — became the youngest-ever
12:23Pulitzer Prize winner
12:25for his reporting on government corruption
12:27in Stamford, Connecticut.
12:29In 1981, he became the chief speechwriter
12:31to President Reagan, whom he served for eight years.
12:35That's a long time. That's the full time.
12:37Eight years.
12:38Coining the phrase, evil empire — that was his word.
12:41That's a very famous — people aren't here.
12:43The evil empire was a very profound statement.
12:47Tony served as a White House advisor
12:49throughout my first term,
12:50and most recently was a special assistant
12:53to President on domestic policy
12:56and the Domestic Policy Council.
12:59He passed away early, Monday morning.
13:01And his family is devastated, to be honest.
13:05They're devastated. A couple of the family members are here,
13:07but they're devastated. He was a great person,
13:10a great, brilliant writer.
13:11And so, he will be very greatly missed.
13:15And Tony is looking down on us right now,
13:18and he was so proud of what he did and his heritage.
13:21He was so proud of his heritage.
13:22So, I want to thank him and his family
13:24for the incredible job they did.
13:27Once again, let me wish everyone a very happy St. Patrick's Day.
13:30And with that, I would like to ask Taoiseach Martin
13:34to say a few words.
13:35He's a very, very special man in Ireland, as you probably know.
13:40He's a very popular guy, which is not easy in Ireland.
13:43And it's an honor to have both Mary and Michael here with us
13:47because we've gotten to know each other very well,
13:50and they're great people.
13:52Thank you very much, everybody.
14:08President Trump, distinguished guests,
14:11it is a singular honor to represent the people of Ireland
14:15as we gather to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
14:19The time-honored tradition of the Shamrock Bowl ceremony
14:23is an important moment to reflect upon the relationship
14:27between our two countries.
14:30Mr. President, as you said on an earlier St. Patrick's Day,
14:35and I quote,
14:36through trial and triumph, ups and downs, thick and thin,
14:40the extraordinary Irish people have stood by America's side,
14:44and America will always stand by theirs.
14:47Our peoples have stood side by side for a long time.
14:51And next year, the United States
14:53marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
14:58Of the 56 signatories of that historic document,
15:01three were born on the island of Ireland,
15:04and many others were of Irish descent.
15:07Since then, Irish America has been at the heart
15:11of shaping this great nation.
15:13The ideals of liberty, democracy,
15:16and equality of opportunity forged in this country
15:19did much to inspire Irish independence.
15:23Our histories are interconnected
15:26because our people are interconnected.
15:28Today, as the President has said,
15:30more than 30 million people claim Irish ancestry
15:34in the United States.
15:36Those who came to America seeking refuge from poverty
15:40and hunger at home worked hard.
15:43They helped build the railroads that connected this country
15:46and the skylines that defined it.
15:49Others served their communities and their adopted home
15:53as firefighters, teachers, nurses, doctors,
15:57policemen, and soldiers.
15:59Irish people can now be found in almost every industry
16:03and community across the United States.
16:06Mr. President, Irish Americans have lived the American dream.
16:12I saw that for myself earlier this week
16:15in the great state of Texas,
16:17where I met Governor Greg Abbott,
16:19attended South by Southwest,
16:22and learned about exciting economic opportunities
16:24that abound in their own star state.
16:27I met with Texan-based companies
16:30using Ireland as a gateway into the European market,
16:33and I met with a group of young people
16:35who were working in the United States
16:37who had never been to the United States before.
16:40I was able to learn about the Irish companies
16:42who are now a gateway into the European market,
16:45as well as the Irish companies
16:47investing in and buying from Texas.
16:51All across the United States,
16:53men and women go to work every morning
16:55in Irish-owned companies.
16:57These companies play a key role in the US economy,
17:01operating in every sector in every state.
17:05Some of your great American manufacturing companies
17:08are books worth many billions of dollars,
17:11supporting the jobs of thousands
17:13of fantastic American workers.
17:16Ireland is now in the top 10
17:18as a source of foreign direct investment
17:21in the United States.
17:22Not bad for a small island.
17:25--.
17:26-.
17:27-.
17:27-.
17:28-.
17:29-.
17:30-.
17:31-.
17:32-.
17:32Ireland likes to trade with the United States,
17:34and the United States likes to do business with Ireland
17:37because we are strong and reliable partners.
17:40Mr. President, let's do even more and better together.
17:45In the past, Irish laborers came to help build
17:48the new republic, the beacon on the hill.
17:51They even built this beautiful White House.
17:54They built the roads and the railroads
17:56that made this mighty union possible.
17:59Today, Irish companies are building the infrastructure
18:02connecting the United States in the 21st century.
18:06Throughout our great shared history,
18:08Ireland has played a role in bringing America closer.
18:13In doing so, we've been proud to help
18:15make this country great.
18:18Mr. President, American companies continue
18:20to invest in Ireland, where our access
18:23to the European market, talented workforce,
18:25and consistent and stable business environment
18:28makes us one of the best places in the world to do business.
18:32And just like our peoples and cultures,
18:36our economies are deeply interconnected.
18:38Investment in Ireland helps American companies
18:40sell their products across the world.
18:43Our island is home to a people with an outward perspective,
18:48generations of whom have looked to the United States
18:51for opportunity and inspiration.
18:54We've built prosperity through free and fair trade
18:57with partners all over the world,
19:00and particularly here in these United States.
19:03Let us continue to build on that foundation,
19:06bringing ever-growing prosperity to both our great peoples.
19:11Let us continue to work together to make sure
19:14that we maintain that mutually beneficial
19:16two-way economic relationship that has allowed
19:19innovation and creativity and prosperity to thrive.
19:23Mr. President, on St. Patrick's Day in 1981,
19:27in this house, President Ronald Reagan spoke
19:30of a just and peaceful solution
19:33to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
19:35And that was the start of an extraordinary journey.
19:3817 years later, after enormous effort and commitment
19:42and dialogue and disagreement and sheer perseverance,
19:45we signed the Good Friday Agreement.
19:48We signed a just and lasting peace into being.
19:52And the United States of America was at the very center
19:55of that magical moment of hope and inspiration.
20:00Successive presidents, Republican and Democrat,
20:03cared enough to put in the late nights,
20:07the persuading, the cajoling, the negotiating,
20:10the encouraging, the influencing.
20:13And Mr. President, 3,720 people were killed
20:17in that conflict, and close to 50,000 people were injured.
20:22In per capita terms, that's many millions of Americans.
20:26And just imagine that for a moment
20:28in terms of the scale of what happened.
20:31It was the support of the United States of America
20:34that was essential in bringing that to an end,
20:38one of the greatest achievements of American foreign policy,
20:41with heartfelt commitment from both sides of the aisle.
20:45The story of peace in Ireland is one that we wrote together.
20:50We know building peace is a difficult and painstaking task,
20:56but when the mighty United States of America
20:58puts its shoulder to the wheel,
21:00there is no mountain it cannot move.
21:03Mr. President, I welcome the unrelenting focus
21:17and energy you have brought to the search for peace
21:21in Ukraine and in the Middle East
21:23since your first days in office.
21:25In my view, there is nothing more noble, President,
21:39than the pursuit of peace, and this is what you are doing.
21:50Ireland is ready to work with you
21:53and our international partners to end conflict,
21:56and especially to bring just, lasting, and sustainable peace
22:00to the people of Ukraine and the people of the Middle East.
22:03Conflict and war hurt the most vulnerable.
22:07Too many children, in particular, have died in Gaza,
22:10in Israel, in Sudan,
22:13and too many children have been abducted in Ukraine.
22:16Let us together never cease to strive for peace,
22:19prosperity, and opportunity for all the world's children.
22:24That would be an extraordinary achievement
22:25for the transatlantic relationship
22:28and an extraordinary legacy for the ages.
22:31Mr. President, County Clare is one of the most beautiful places
22:35on this Earth, and Doonbeg is one of its finest jewels.
22:44One of Ireland's finest poets, and we've had a few,
22:47as you know, wrote of the beauty of County Clare
22:52along the flaggy shore in September or October,
22:56when the wind and the light are working off each other.
23:01And Heaney wrote of how Ireland can catch the heart off guard
23:06and blow it open.
23:08I have been to that part of Clare,
23:11and I know that that is true.
23:14Mr. President, I hope that we can welcome you to Ireland soon
23:18to catch your own heart off guard.
23:22You know better than anyone the beauty of Doonbeg,
23:25a place that would take anyone's breath away.
23:29Go raibh míle a maith agat.
23:31Beannachtaí na féile pádraig ormh go léir.
23:35Thank you very much indeed,
23:37and happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.
23:58Time-honoured tradition,
23:59I'm going to present the bowl of shamrock to President Trump.