Trump and Irish PM meet amid differences on Gaza war, trade

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump criticised Ireland on March 12 for luring away US companies with its low tax rates but pledged to work with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin to address what he called “massive deficits” in trade between the two allies.

Mr Trump met Mr Martin in the Oval Office and again at an evening event, where the Irish leader presented Mr Trump with a bowl of shamrocks at an early St Patrick’s Day celebration. The two leaders also attended an annual lunch event at the Capitol.

The talks – Mr Trump’s first sit-down with a foreign leader since his explosive meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in February – skirted differences over trade and the conflict in Gaza, although both leaders said they would work to expand cooperation between the two countries.

The annual White House meeting around the time of St Patrick’s Day is usually a straightforward affair for both the United States and Ireland. Recent meetings were with Mr Trump’s proudly Irish-American Democratic predecessor, Mr Joe Biden.

Mr Trump, sitting next to Mr Martin in the Oval Office, said that “of course” he would respond to retaliatory tariffs announced on March 12 by the European Union, of which Ireland is a member, and said April 2 would mark the start of reciprocal tariffs on cars and other goods.

White House officials had no details about the expected response after the EU slapped tariffs on US$28 billion (S$37.3 billion) of US goods in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminium – measures Mr Trump hopes will rebuild US manufacturing.

“Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them,” Mr Trump said of the planned reciprocal tariffs. “If they charge us 25 or 20 per cent, or 10 per cent or 2 per cent or 200 per cent, then that’s what we’re charging them.”

He said Ireland had lured away US pharmaceutical companies and others with low tax rates, telling Mr Martin that while he respected that decision, he felt US leaders should have acted to prevent the off-shoring moves.

He called Ireland a beautiful country, but said the “massive” imbalance in trade needed to be addressed.

Mr Martin lauded Mr Trump’s own investment in Ireland, a golf course in Doonbeg, and said he was the only president to have invested in the island country. He also hailed the two countries’ commitment to trade and innovation.

“We’ve built prosperity through free and fair trade with partners all over the world, and particularly here in these United States, let us continue to build on that foundation,” Mr Martin said during the evening event.

“Let us continue to work together to make sure that we maintain that mutually beneficial two-way economic relationship that has allowed innovation and creativity and prosperity to thrive.”

Earlier, in the Oval Office, Mr Martin said companies like Eli Lilly, which has extensive operations in Ireland, had recently announced plans to invest more heavily in the US.

The Indianapolis-based drugmaker announced plans to more than double US investments announced since 2020 to US$50 billion. It has been operating in Ireland since 1978 and currently employs over 3,500 people across three sites there.

Irish companies were also investing more in the US, Mr Martin said, citing investments by Ryanair and others. “It’s only fair... I think it’s a relationship that can develop.”

Mr Trump said he expected the two countries to work together.

“There’s a massive deficit that we have with Ireland and with other countries, too, and we want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can, and we’ll work together,” he said.

While none of Mr Trump’s trade measures have been aimed directly at Ireland, the nation of 5.4 million has a trade surplus with the US, and US-owned foreign multinationals employ a significant portion of Irish workers. It will be subject to any EU tariffs, given that trade is governed by the bloc.

Mr Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on pharmaceutical products, a major industry in Ireland.

Mr Martin commended Mr Trump for his “unrelenting” pursuit of peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, and played down differences over Gaza, saying that both countries were pressing for the release of hostages held by militant group Hamas and a ceasefire.

Mr Trump has resumed his close alliance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since taking office in January, and he has said that all Palestinians should be removed from Gaza, at least temporarily, following a peace deal.

The Irish leader repeated his call for a surge of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave and his support for a two-state solution, but did not directly address a question about Mr Trump’s call for removing Palestinians from Gaza.

“Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza,” Mr Trump shot back to a question on the issue.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance, who joined Mr Trump and Mr Martin in the Oval Office, also hosted the Irish leader at his vice-presidential residence for a breakfast. REUTERS