Raymona Crozier
BBC News me
Washington Dcreuters report
Taoiseach and the American president gathered in the oval office on Wednesday
President Donald Trump has raised a “massive” commercial imbalance with Ireland and accused the European Union of treating the United States “very badly”.
He made these comments during a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin as part of the traditional commitments of Saint-Patrick of the Irish government.
Earlier Wednesday, the European Union announced that it would impose prices recorded on 26 billion euros ($ 28 billion) of American goods compared to next month.
Addressing journalists from the oval office, Trump said: “There is a massive deficit that we have with Ireland … We even want this as well as possible, and we will work together.”
Watch: President Trump welcomes Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin
The EU’s decision is in retaliation for the 25% prices of President Trump on all steel and aluminum imports in the United States, which came into force overnight.
Trump said it had caused “bad will”.
“The European Union has been very difficult, and it is also our turn. We also have a turn in turn,” he said.
“I do not hit him, they do what they do for the EU, but it creates bad will and you know that we are going to make reciprocal prices,” he added.
Martin told President Trump that foreign investment is a two -way street, adding that Ireland “invests much more in America now”.
Pool / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock
Martin arrived at the White House for a meeting with Donald Trump
Trump also said he was not aware that some political parties boycotted Saint-Patrick celebrations in the White House.
Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic Party and the Labor Party (SDLP) and the Alliance have all excluded events in Washington on the position of the Trump administration on Gaza.
Asked about the boycotts of the oval office, the American president replied: “I did not hear that, I really did not hear this”.
Earlier, Martin attended a breakfast organized by Vice-President JD Vance.
Speaking at breakfast, he said that we “was an unshakable friend of Ireland for centuries”.
Reuters
US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance Bienvenue Micheál Martin and his wife Mary O’Shea at their residence in Washington DC
He said that the peace process was a “realization of signing of American foreign policy”, adding that Ireland is “ready to play our role to support work to put an end to conflicts and ensure peace in Ukraine or the Middle East or everywhere”.
Martin praised the “progress that has been clearly made” following the “concentration and implacable effort of the Trump administration to ensure peace.
Vance described the American-Irish relationship as “one of the great alliances and great friendships between nations”.
He added that Ireland is a country with “an incredibly … magnificent landscape and also a lot of interesting technological growth”.
“One of the most robust areas to work with our Irish friends in the coming years is technology and in particular artificial intelligence,” he said.
Media in Pennsylvania
JD Vance praised the technological sector of Ireland
The Taoiseach is the first EU leader to return to the Oval Office since the president’s break with President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
Discussions should cover a wide range of questions, including the deep ties between the United States and Ireland, shared world challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, as well as the economic relations of the two countries.
The bilateral meeting comes in the midst of an increased concern for the future of the Irish economy, which depends strongly on American multinationals.
Trump sees it as a commercial imbalance and wants to attract these companies to the United States.
However, Martin said he would use his visit to the Oval Office to highlight an increasingly bidirectional commercial and investment relationship.
“Ireland is the sixth source of foreign direct investment in the United States, supporting hundreds and thousands of jobs across the United States,” he said.
“This substantial investment underlines the commitment of Irish companies on the American market and reflects a deepening of the economic interdependence between the two countries.”
Reunion is also an opportunity for Taoiseach to update Trump on the situation in Northern Ireland, recognizing the huge contribution that the United States has made peace.
Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill will not go to the White House as she boycotted the festivities of Saint-Patrick there due to Trump’s position on Gaza.
However, the vice-minister Emma Little-Pegelly will be at the reception of the White House on Wednesday and should meet Trump.
The two executive ministers led a delegation in North Carolina earlier in the week alongside representatives of Queen’s Belfast, Invest Ni, Catalyst and Software Ni.
The CEO of Ni Chamber, Suzanne Wylie, said that the visit was part of a long -term process and that they would invite a commercial mission to Northern Ireland in summer in North Carolina.
However, there was more geopolitical uncertainty this year than last year, in particular the introduction by President Trump of certain prices.
She said that although there was uncertainty around the world at the moment, “companies really wanted to create relationships and do business with each other and continue to seek other investments in some of our innovative companies”.
Getty images
Addressing BBC News or before the meeting between Trump and Martin, the Democratic Member of the House of Representatives Brendan Boyle said that “the Trump administration does with regard to prices had no economic sense, and that has no sense in terms of national security”.
Boyle said that the taxation of prices in Canada suggests that no country is “safely with this kind of madness”, including Ireland.
He added that Martin should “remind President Trump that Ireland, despite its small size, is one of the largest investors in the United States and one of the largest job creators in the United States”.
“On the one hand, (Trump) likes to say, you know, we are the best, he is the best, he is the biggest. Everything is a superlative.
“But then, in the following breath,” he said, “we are suckers, we are losers, we are enjoyed all the other countries.”
Boyle said Ireland “strikes well above its weight” in terms of investment in the United States, and reminding Trump that “would go very far”.
