Donald Trump took it upon himself to rudely interrogate Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin about a statistic related to the Irish. What made it worse was, the whole interaction was televised and broadcast all over the world. The incident took place during St. Patrick’s Day Reception at the White House.
Micheál Martin visited the White House and was accompanied by his wife Mary O’Shea. Trump came in swinging heavy with the accusation in the meeting that took place in the Oval Office. He claimed that Ireland is yet another country that is “taking advantage” of America.
He also spoke about how Ireland stole the US pharmaceutical industry which made the shift to the European country. Massive players in the industry including Pfizer, Boston Scientific, and Eli Lilly moved base to Ireland thanks to their low-tax policies.
Donald Trump did not miss the opportunity to take a jab at the past governments for their mistake. “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,” the Republican added.
The 78-year-old went on to blame the “stupid leaders” of the past administrations. The President also pointed out that the past leaders weren’t “business people” who did not have “a clue.” He added, “But they didn’t have a clue what was happening and all of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies.”
One of the worst moments from the meeting was when Donald Trump asked the Irish Prime Minister if a statistic he had read about the Irish was correct. He noted how he had just learned of an “amazing statistic” and wanted to know if it was true.
“50% of the people that won the Congressional Medal of Honor were Irish… can you imagine? And I want to check on that,” Trump voiced his doubts about the statistic being true.
The final event of the day as Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his wife Mary are at the White House with President Trump pic.twitter.com/JXphkNJddn
— Louise Burne (@louiseburne_) March 12, 2025
He also demanded the statistic be investigated “because how is that -seriously how is that possible?” The President seemed to miss how disrespectful he was being in the moment by asking the question. He then addressed the Irish Prime Minister’s wife to let her know that the fact he had newly learned of, “surprised” him.
He then went on to ask Mary if she thought the statistic was “possible.” “Of course it’s possible!” she replied without missing a beat. Trump made matters worse when he decided to ramble endlessly about the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“No think of it, the Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award you can get in this country,” he mentioned during the conversation. He also mentioned the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is another honor that is bestowed upon exceptional citizens.
🚨🗞️🚨Trump rolls out the red carpet for Ireland’s Micheál Martin at the White House! Power moves & global vibes. #TrumpMeetsMartin #USAIreland pic.twitter.com/rZqNpq79lW
— NewsDaily🪖🚨🪖 (@XNews24_7) March 12, 2025
“Well they also have the Presidential Medal of Freedom but I will say the Presidential Medal of Freedom it’s much easier to,” he noted without concluding the sentence.
In the end, the President finally decided to put his faith in the provided statistics. “But think of that 50% of the people that received the Congressional Medal of Honor had Irish heritage,” he said bringing his one-sided debate to a conclusion.
