'I’m not going to mess around with you': Trump jokes to Taoiseach in discussion about Paddy 'The Champ' Martin

US president Donald Trump said he was “not going to mess around with” Taoiseach Micheál Martin during a meeting at the Oval Office.

Mr Martin is the first European leader to meet with Mr Trump since Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s now-infamous meeting in the Oval Office last month.

The pair met today as part of the Taoiseach’s US visit for St Patrick’s celebrations.

The two leaders discussed trade, peace, Ireland, and the EU among other issues.

During the meeting, Mr Trump referenced Mr Martin’s late father, Paddy ‘The Champ’ Martin.

“Ireland has always had a lot of good fighters. You know why, because they’re tough people, they’re smart people, and they’re passionate people,” Mr Trump said.

“I think your father was a great fighter, right?” Mr Trump asked Mr Martin.

“He was, yes,” Mr Martin replied. “A very good defensive boxer. He was a good boxer, boxed for Ireland.”

To laughter, Mr Trump added: “Genetically, I’m not going to mess around with you.”

Pharmaceuticals

Their light-hearted exchange came as the US president said he does not want “to do anything to hurt Ireland”, but added that the trade relationship between the countries should be focused on “fairness”.

Mr Trump levelled accusations against Ireland and the EU, during which he raised the “massive” trade imbalance between the two countries and said Ireland is “of course” taking advantage of the US.

He accused the Irish Government of “taking” US pharmaceutical companies through attractive taxation.

Asked if Ireland was also taking advantage of the US, he said: “Of course they are. I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue. All of a sudden, Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of 5m people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.”

Mr Trump told reporters he loved Ireland and had received a large share of the Irish-American vote.

“We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do want fairness,” he added.

Speaking to The Echo, the Fine Gael TD for Cork East, Noel McCarthy, said that he thinks Taoiseach Micheál Martin has done the people of Ireland “proud” and hopes that US pharmaceutical companies will remain in Ireland following Trumps remarks.

“We know how important pharmaceutical companies are to us in Cork, and I think the most important thing is that they’re happy here as well,” said Mr McCarthy. “I can see where the president is coming from, but I’m hoping he won’t encourage them to go back [to the US]. I think that they have invested so much in Ireland now that it would be hard to do that.

“The companies that are here are happy here. They’re happy with their workforce and they’re happy with the locations they’re in, so I think that they will stay.”

Apple

Mr Trump also criticised the EU’s ruling that found that Apple, whose European HQ is in Cork, owes Ireland billions of euro in taxes, saying they had been “treated very badly”.

Mr Martin interjected to say “we fought with them” on the EU case.

“It’s the European Union, isn’t it? The European Union is going after our companies,” Mr Trump said when asked if Apple should relocate from Ireland back to the US.

He said previous presidents had “lost big segments” of the US economy, adding that the “European Union treats us very badly”.

“They have not been fair. They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money. They sued Apple, won $17bn, and they use that for other reasons, I guess, to run the European Union. I’m not knocking it.

“They’re doing what they should be doing, perhaps for the European Union, but it does create ill will — and, as you know, we’re going to be doing reciprocal tariffs — so whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them. Nobody can complain about that.”

Housing

During the meeting, Mr Trump also backed Micheál Martin to solve Ireland’s housing crisis, saying the housing issue had arisen because Ireland is “doing so well”.

The Government has faced sustained criticism from opposition parties for its housing policies.

“You know why they have a housing crisis? Because they’re doing so well, they can’t produce houses fast enough,” Mr Trump said. “That’s a good problem, not a bad problem.”

Mr Martin interjected to say that was a “good answer”.

Mr Trump, gesturing to Mr Martin, added: “I know this gentleman, he’ll get it solved.”

Reaction

Fianna Fáil councillor Mary Rose Desmond said she believes Mr Martin has represented the Irish people “very well” during his visit.

“I think it was very important that he was there. It’s very important for Ireland, for our Irish investments and companies, and for the diaspora in Ireland,” she said.

“I’ve had people reaching out already to say how pleased they are with how the visit is going. I think it’s an opportunity that can’t ever be overlooked or underestimated.

“It’s very important for Ireland that the Taoiseach of the day and the [US] president of the day do continue to take this unique opportunity on St Patrick’s week to meet,” she added.

Meanwhile, speaking in Macroom today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the meetings in Washington are “obviously extremely important”, adding that Mr Martin must “speak directly on behalf of the Irish people on the matter of Gaza”.

However, she added: “We thought it was really important this year to make a stand in our own way.

“We appreciated, of course, the Taoiseach has to be there and has to represent Ireland to protect our interests absolutely and to celebrate St Patrick’s Day absolutely — but also to speak fully and frankly on this particular issue,” she added.