Trump Accuses Ireland of Taking Advantage of US

President Trump welcomed Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Wednesday for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House, where he added Ireland to the list of countries he says are taking advantage of the United States. The Irish leader, who offered only gentle pushback to some of Trump's comments, later presented Trump with a bowl of shamrocks. The duo also attended an annual luncheon at the Capitol.

• During the appearance with Martin, Trump repeated his claim that the European Union was created just to stick it to the US. Asked if Ireland, a member of the EU, 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 concentration of US pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, due to the country's tax policies, the AP reports.

• "We had stupid leaders. We had leaders that didn't have a clue or let's say they weren't businesspeople, but they didn't have a clue what was happening and all of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies," Trump said. "The Irish are smart, smart people and you took our pharmaceutical companies—and other companies—but you know, through taxation, proper taxation, they made it very, very good for companies to move up there," he said, per the BBC.
• "I think the Irish love Trump," Trump said, adding that he won with a "tremendous" amount of the Irish vote. "I got it locked up pretty good unless I did something very stupid, like drained your company, your wonderful place of all of its companies," he said, per the Guardian.

• Martin countered that the trade relationship is "a two-way street," adding that Ireland's two largest airlines buy more aircraft from Boeing Co. than anyone else outside of America. More than 700 Irish companies are also based in America, creating thousands of jobs, Martin said. "That's a little-known fact that doesn't turn up in the statistics," he added.
• Trump's banter during the Oval Office meeting also touched on Trump nemesis Rosie O'Donnell's recent move to Ireland. When a commentator for the digital media company Real America's Voice asked Martin why his country would let O'Donnell move there, Trump jumped at the opening. "I like that question," the president said, adding that Martin was "better off not knowing" about O'Donnell.
• As the meeting wrapped, Trump was asked to name his favorite person in Ireland. Trump referred to mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, partly because "he's got the best tattoos I've ever seen."

(More President Trump stories.)