‘What’s with these socks?’ Vance distracts Trump during Oval Office meeting
As Ireland leader Micheal Martin sat down beside Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, a spray of shamrocks tucked neatly into his suit’s breast pocket, he must have been acutely aware that things had not gone so well for the previous occupant of his chair.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s sit-down with the US president and Vice President J.D. Vance two weeks earlier had morphed into a shouting match before the world’s media that ended with Zelensky being asked to leave the White House. Only hours before Martin’s visit, the European Union, which includes Ireland, had imposed tariffs on €26 billion ($45 billion) of US goods in retaliation for Trump’s duties on steel and aluminium.
Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheal Martin meets US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.Credit: AP
But while Trump directed the occasional barb at the Irish taoiseach during the one-hour meeting, and added Ireland to the list of countries that he says are taking advantage of the United States, his meeting with Martin was a more congenial affair, and Vance’s most notable input proved to be his choice of socks.
At one point, as Trump talked about inflation, the president became distracted by the shamrock prints covering his vice president’s ankles – a wardrobe selection made in honour of Martin’s visit and St Patrick’s Day on Monday.
“By the way, I love these socks,” the president declared, drawing chuckles from those in the room. “What’s with these socks? I’m trying to stay focused, but I’m very impressed with the VP’s socks.”
Trump has been sparring with US allies and adversaries alike over trade, slapping double-digit tariffs on imports from countries including Canada, China and Australia. Ireland was not spared during Martin’s Oval Office meeting, with Trump repeating his claim that the European Union was created just to stick it to the US.
Asked if Ireland was taking advantage, too, Trump said, “of course they are”, before turning his attention to the plethora of US pharmaceutical companies that had shifted to Ireland, attracted by its tax policies.
“We do have a massive deficit with Ireland because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents that didn’t know what they were doing, and it’s too bad that happened,” Trump said.
“When the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said, ‘That’s OK, if you want to go to Ireland, I think that’s great, but if you want to sell anything into the United States, I’m going to put a 200 per cent tariff on you so you’re never going to be able to sell anything into the United States’.
“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.”
Micheal Martin with Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance, wearing shamrock socks in the Oval Office. Credit: Getty Images
Martin, who reportedly consulted with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of the Trump meeting, responded to Trump with gentle pushbacks, countering that the trade relationship was “a two-way street”, and that Ireland’s two largest airlines bought more aircraft from Boeing than anyone else outside of America.
“I understand where you’re coming from, fully,” Martin told Trump, “but I think it’s a relationship that we can develop and that will endure into the future.”
The meeting also turned to comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who had disclosed a day earlier that she had moved to Ireland to escape the US, and would only consider returning to America “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there”.
When a reporter asked Martin why his country would let O’Donnell immigrate, Trump jumped at the opening.
Donald Trump praised mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, saying he liked his tattoos.Credit: AP
“I like that question,” the president said, adding that Martin was “better off not knowing” about O’Donnell, who has feuded with Trump for years.
Trump also named mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, who lost a civil rape lawsuit last year, as his favourite Irish person, partly because “he’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen”. Trump is well known for his support of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and attended bouts during the 2024 presidential campaign.
He noted that Martin’s father was an acclaimed boxer, but motioned to him and said, “You’re so smooth”, suggesting he did not look like a boxer.
“I’m a pretty good defensive boxer,” Martin joked in reply.
The taoiseach returned to the White House later in the evening, where he presented Trump with a bowl of shamrocks – an annual tradition to mark St Patrick’s Day.
AP