# Trump accuses Ireland of stealing US companies in meeting with taoiseach

US president claims Dublin ‘took’ pharma industry as he holds White House press conference with Micheál Martin

Donald Trump has accused Ireland of stealing the US pharmaceutical industry and the tax revenue that should have been paid to the US treasury, in a blow to the Irish premier, Micheál Martin, who had hoped to emerge unscathed from a visit to the White House marking St Patrick’s Day.

The US president showed grudging respect for Martin, alternately ribbing and complimenting him, while also launching several broadsides against the EU.

Big pharma now drives Ireland’s  of annual exports to the US, with taxes paid in Ireland on drugs consumed in the US.

“The Irish are smart, yes, smart people,” Trump said. “You took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies … This beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.”

The US president told reporters in the Oval Office he did not want to punish the Irish too much, as it might risk support among the American-Irish vote, but said he was determined “to take back” his country’s “wealth”, predicting an easy battle with the EU.

“I think the Irish love Trump,” he said. “We won the Irish with a tremendous amount of  vote. I got it locked up pretty good unless I did something very stupid, like drained your country, your wonderful place of all of its companies. Maybe  I’d lose the Irish vote.”

Trump also said that previous presidents had “lost big segments” of the US economy to  and repeated his claim that “the EU was set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.

Referring to the EU’s successful lawsuit against Apple, forcing it to pay , he said: “Apple has been treated very badly … That is unfair.”



In one of several fawning moments, Martin pointed out that Ireland had fought against the EU case in the European court of justice – a move born out of the country’s desire to hold on to US tech firms such as Intel, Microsoft and Google, which have sited their EU headquarters in and around Dublin.

He also said the Irish companies Ryanair and AerCap, which is the world’s biggest aircraft-leasing company, buy more US-made Boeing planes than anyone else.

Nodding, Trump said: “I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming the . The European Union’s gone after our companies.

“We have a problem with the European Union. They don’t take our farm products. They don’t take our cars. We take millions of cars, BMWs and Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagens and everything. We take millions of cars.”

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