Trump Insists He Doesn’t Want ‘to Hurt Ireland’—But His Policies Might Say Otherwise

President Donald Trump hosted Ireland's prime minister, Micheál Martin, for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House. 

Trump Insists He Doesn’t Want ‘to Hurt Ireland’—But His Policies Might Say Otherwise

During a tense 45-minute televised meeting at the White House, Ireland’s visiting prime minister endured a monologue from U.S. President Donald Trump, who directed his criticism at Brussels while carefully sidestepping direct attacks on Dublin.

Trump emphasized that he has no desire to “do anything to hurt Ireland,” but added that “fairness” could compel him to take certain actions.

This statement was one of the key moments in a lengthy Oval Office exchange on Wednesday, during which Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, in Washington for an annual St. Patrick’s Day-related visit, listened as Trump launched into criticisms of past U.S. presidents and the European Union.

Martin, a seasoned diplomat, sat through much of the meeting in watchful silence, hands clasped on his thighs, offering only a subtle smile. While Trump avoided direct criticism of Ireland, he displayed a somewhat muddled grasp of Ireland’s enthusiastic role within the EU, questioning why his own Irish golf resort should be subject to European environmental regulations.

A moment of potential relief for Martin came when Trump referenced the EU court ruling from the previous year that required Apple to pay an astonishing €14 billion in back taxes plus interest to Ireland, where the tech giant’s European operations are based. The Irish government, despite its initial reluctance, accepted the funds, which have since contributed to the nation’s budget surplus and sovereign wealth funds.

However, Trump appeared to misunderstand the situation, remarking that he believed the Apple tax revenue was being used “I guess, to run the European Union.” Martin chose not to correct him.

Dan Mulhall, Ireland’s former ambassador to the U.S., later commented that Martin had played the situation wisely by remaining reserved.

“Naturally it’s the Donald Trump Show when you’re in the Oval Office, and Donald Trump likes to perform for the media,” said Mulhall, who previously served in Washington during Trump’s first term. “The Taoiseach obviously didn’t do most of the talking. That was probably a good thing.”

Indeed, Martin mainly spoke to echo Trump’s preferred rhetoric on Ukraine and Israel—an approach that drew criticism from left-wing politicians back in Ireland, who had hoped he would condemn Trump’s controversial suggestion of constructing a resort in a cleared-out Gaza Strip.

The only time Martin gently countered Trump was when the U.S. president complained that Ireland had successfully attracted too much American corporate investment through “smart” tax policies and promised to counteract this trend. Earlier this year, Trump withdrew U.S. participation from the OECD’s global tax cooperation efforts aimed at curbing aggressive tax competition.

As expected, Martin highlighted the strong trade relationship between Ireland and the U.S., emphasizing that economic ties benefited both nations. He pointed out that Ireland is the largest international purchaser of Boeing aircraft, mentioning airline Ryanair and aircraft leasing giant AerCap.

Trump took this as an opportunity to criticize America’s inability to prevent U.S. pharmaceutical firms from relocating their headquarters and profit centers to Ireland.

Trump’s 2017 tax reform, influenced by previous OECD-led global policies, aimed to reduce incentives for multinationals to shift operations overseas. Yet, a significant portion of Ireland’s record €72 billion in exports to the U.S. last year came from pharmaceuticals and chemicals, largely produced by American companies that had moved operations to Ireland before Trump first took office.

“We do have a massive deficit with Ireland, because Ireland was very smart,” Trump stated. “They took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents that didn’t know what they were doing—and, you know, it’s too bad that happened.”

Trump then speculated on how he would have handled the situation differently had he been in power when pharmaceutical firms started shifting to Ireland.

“When the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said: That’s OK … but if you want to sell anything into the United States, I’m gonna put a 200 percent tariff on you so you’re never gonna be able to sell anything into the United States. You know what they would’ve done? They would’ve stayed here.”

Amid a flurry of questions from reporters, Trump turned to Martin and gestured toward him: “He’s so lucky that I wasn’t!”

He went on to claim that an overwhelming majority of Irish-Americans—four-fifths, according to him—had backed him in the 2024 election. However, he acknowledged that imposing steep tariffs on EU products, including pharmaceuticals produced in Ireland, could damage the country’s economy and possibly cost him Irish-American support.

“If I drained Ireland of all the companies, maybe I’d lose the Irish vote. We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland. But we do want fairness,” Trump stated, casting another glance at Martin, who remained inscrutable.

“He understands that.”