U.S. President Donald Trump has strongly criticized past trade policies, claiming that the European Union, including Ireland, was designed to take advantage of the United States. Speaking on economic policies, he stated, “The EU was set up in order to take advantage of the United States, including Ireland. Is Ireland taking advantage of the US? Of course, they are.”
Trump acknowledged Ireland’s success but blamed past U.S. leaders for allowing it. “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. We had stupid leaders. We had leaders that didn’t have a clue.”
He pointed out how Ireland became a hub for U.S. pharmaceutical companies. “All of a sudden, Ireland, this beautiful island of 5 million people, has pharmaceutical companies and other industries. It’s got the entire US pharmaceutical industry.”
Trump also reflected on his own experience, mentioning his property in Ireland. “I have property in Ireland, as you know, and I love it. It does great. But I’d like to see the United States not have been so stupid for so many years—not just with Ireland, but with everybody.”
He sharply criticized past trade deals, saying, “I looked at trade deals that were so bad I actually asked, ‘How is it possible that this could have happened? Who would have been so stupid to let these deals happen?’”
Proposing a tougher stance, he said, “When the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said, ‘That’s OK if you want to go to Ireland. But if you want to sell anything into the United States, I’m going to put a 200% tariff on you.’
