Well, thank you very much. It's a great honor to have Taoiseach Martin from Ireland and somebody that we know, we get along with. We've had a very good relationship and we continue and we're going to have some big discussions today concerning trade, concerning lots of different subjects. We have a tremendous trade relationship with Ireland and we'll keep it that way. I think it's going to be expanded very greatly. Probably they want to talk a little bit about tariffs, but I won't mention that, you know, we won't bring that up. But you might want to be discussing that a little bit. But it's an honor to have you and thank you very much for being here. Thank you.
And may I thank you, President, for facilitating this visit and in what is for us probably one of the most important weeks in the United States and in many ways you're affirming the tremendous bonds between Ireland and the United States that go back to the very foundation of this republic and 35 million people in this country claim Irish descent and Irish heritage. And I spent the first two days in Philadelphia going back really into the heart of that history and the fact that three Irish people born in the island of Ireland signed the Declaration of Independence. It was printed by an Irishman, John Dunlap, and disseminated across the colonies. And Charles Thompson, who we just discussed earlier, he designed the bald eagle as the seal of the US. So, in many ways, our connection is foundational. It's historic. And the Irish had to build America. We're very proud of that connection. And we think you hosting us here in the White House is affirmation to all the Irish Americans out there and to our diaspora in this country and for what they've contributed to America. And that's very much through the prism of this year in America 250. It's a very exciting year. We're discovering new things. I mean even a guy from my own city, a guy called Stephen Moylan, who was an aide-de-camp to Washington. He's regarded as the guy who came up with the phrase "The United States of America." First written record. And it's in New York in the history of those bonds.
Well, you told me something before that was maybe the most interesting of all. How many presidents are in some way related through blood with Ireland?
The great politicians. The Irish are great politicians. No, but think of it, 23 are in some form and many of them have gone to Ireland.
Absolutely.
Grant went to Ireland after his presidency. I was saying earlier Ronald Reagan's visit was an extraordinary one. In a place called Ballyporeen in County Tipperary. And of course John F. Kennedy, whose grandfather was Irish, came back I think only 63. That's a very memorable visit because of what tragedy that happened subsequently in the years. Assassination which touched people in Ireland very deeply. So the Kennedy family strong resonance with Ireland.
Well, we like the family too. One person in particular. One very non-controversial person. But now he's doing a very good job. He really is. But we have more I think people here by far than you have in Ireland that are of Irish descent. We have so you have quite a few, but we have a lot.
You have a lot more than we have.
That's pretty amazing. By a lot. Anyway, thank you very much. It's a great honor. And any questions?
Well, I'm having it's a great thing. My son and my family we have a great golf complex in Ireland, one of the best in the world, called Doonbeg. It's in Doonbeg. And it's been amazing, and Rory McIlroy loves it. They all love it. Great golfers. You have a tremendous golf tradition, and it was chosen for the Irish Open, which is a big deal. That's a big event.
Absolutely. Looking forward to it.
Everybody wants me to be there. You just said, "I hope you're going to go." And we're going to try. We are going to try, but it will be an honor. But it was a great honor to be chosen. They only choose the best courses in the world for the big opens. It's one of the big ones, the Irish Open. It's really become one of the most important tournaments in the world. It's going to be, I hear it's going to be a fantastic success.
It'll be a great success.
What progress have you made, Mr. President, in getting America's allies to assist the US in escorting those oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz?
Well, we don't need too much help, and we don't need any help, actually. In fact, we just put out a notice. I was watching over the last couple of weeks, and all of our NATO allies were very much in favor of what we did. They thought it was a very important — we were just discussing it, actually — a very important that we take out the nuclear threat from Iran, and we've done that very strongly, very powerfully. We've wiped out their navy, wiped out their military in every aspect. Their air force is now decimated. They have no air force, no navy. They have no radar. Their radar is entirely gone. Their anti-aircraft machinery is gone. Everything is gone. Their leaders are gone. I guess one of their top person was — a lot of people say their actual top was killed yesterday along with somebody else who was responsible for the killing. The man that was responsible for the killing of 32,000 people over the last two weeks. He was in charge of the killing of protesters. It's an evil group. I mean they killed much more than 32,000 people and the man who was responsible for that was also killed yesterday. And all of the NATO allies agreed with us but they don't want to, you know, despite the fact that we helped them so much. We have thousands of soldiers in different countries all over the world. And they don't want to help us. Which is amazing. I mean amazing. And I didn't do a full court press because I think if I did they probably would be but we don't need help. You know, that war has been long prosecuted as far as I'm concerned almost from day one. We knocked out many of these things. We knocked out the navy essentially in a couple of days. But I was surprised to see that NATO, while they agreed that it was a very important thing to do, they agreed fully. Nobody said, oh, you shouldn't do it. They would have had a nuclear weapon within one month of when we had the B-2 bombers bomb the nuclear potential. I call it the nuclear dust. So I think NATO's making a very foolish mistake and I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test because we don't need them but they should have been there. The other thing is, and I think you know, very important, we didn't have to be there for Ukraine. You know Biden chose to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on Ukraine. And I guess the head of Germany just made a statement that well, they weren't involved and they have nothing to do with the war, but at the same time they think we did a great thing by knocking them out. Nobody wants to have Iran or anybody, but nobody wants to have Iran with a nuclear because these people are crazy. They're absolutely crazy and they're vicious, violent. I mean, they killed — think of it — they killed — now I hear it's about 41,000 people. They put out a notice two days ago. Anybody that protests will be immediately shot and killed. That's pretty tough stuff. So, everyone agrees with us, but they don't want to help. And we, you know, we as the United States have to remember that because we think it's pretty shocking.
Mr. President, Macron has just said in the last hour that he will never join a task force in the Strait of Hormuz until hostilities finish.
Yesterday you said that? Who said?
President Macron. Mr. President, what's your reaction to that, sir?
Well, he'll be out of office very soon, so we'll have to see. You know, I don't know.
On Doonbeg, you're building an extension to it, I think, but there's been an objection put in and it's been held back at the moment due to small snails. What are you disappointed about?
I have not heard that, no. I mean, the course was built and it's been operated very successfully. Somebody's objecting — a human and environmental group is objecting to — what is this?
How close is the US to announcing a coalition of the willing to secure the Strait of Hormuz? Which countries are joining and which countries have been?
We've had great support from the Middle East. Qatar has been great. UAE has been absolutely great. Saudi Arabia has been terrific. Bahrain has been very good. The Middle Eastern countries have been very strong in their support and of course Israel has been our partner. Israel's been very very strong along with our nation against Iran. If you look back, I talked about Iran was a big threat to this country, to this world. It turned out to be — I was right. In fact, I said you have to attack Kharg Island. You have to attack them years ago when they were acting up. They've been acting up for 37, 47, I guess now 48 years. For 48 years they've been bad players, vicious players, and you can't let them have a nuclear weapon. If they got a nuclear weapon, I would say they would have used it within 24 hours after having it. And they would have had it if we didn't bomb them out on that great raid with the B-2 bombers eight months ago or so, you would have had a nuclear war in the Middle East and maybe beyond. I think it would have hit Europe. Maybe not Ireland, but it would have hit Europe. I think you would have been a nice piece of it. It all gets you. It's big enough that you would have been affected. They would have hit Europe eventually.
Mr. President, your director of national counterterrorism, Joe Kent, he just resigned today. He said he can't support your conflict with Iran. What's your reaction to that and did you know?
Well, I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security. I didn't know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But when I read his statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it. And many people, many of the greatest military scholars are saying for years that a president should have taken out Iran because they wanted a nuclear weapon. If we didn't do the attack, or I'll go a step further, if I didn't terminate the Iran nuclear deal given to us, one of the worst deals ever made by Barack Hussein Obama. Remember when they said Boeing 757s over there loaded with cash. Hundreds of millions of dollars. He would have been very happy. This was a wonderful — they said hundreds of millions. People forget that. Does anybody remember? Right? You remember. Hundreds of millions of dollars in a Boeing 757. I think they had two of them. Loaded. They took the seats out and they put cash. And it was so much that there wasn't a bank in Virginia, Maryland, or DC that had any money left. They stripped them of all their money, put it in a plane, sent it to Iran almost as ransom. That's not going to happen with Trump. And nobody ever did anything about it. Nobody ever said anything about it. Can you imagine if I did that? So, they've been a threat for a long time, but they've really been a threat — if I didn't terminate Obama's horrible deal that he made, the Iran nuclear deal, you would have had a nuclear war four years ago. You would have had a nuclear holocaust. And you would have had it again if we didn't bomb the site. So, when somebody is working with us that says they didn't think Iran was a threat, we don't want those people because — and there are some people I guess that would say that, but they're not smart people or they're not savvy people. Iran was a tremendous threat. And virtually every NATO nation, and this is the thing. If they told me it wasn't a threat and therefore they don't want to help, but when they say it was a threat and it was a major threat, every one of them, I think every one of them. I don't know of one that said they're not a threat. But when they say it was a threat, but we're not going to help, I think they're very foolish. You know, it's interesting. It's interesting because I could say this that what's happening in Ukraine, we're probably in there for $400 billion. We don't spend any money anymore. They buy it from us and they pay full price, but Biden gave them between 350 and 400 billion dollars of equipment and cash. Someday they'll have to find out about the cash. And you could say that wasn't a threat, you know, we're helping them. So, we helped them and they didn't help us and I think that's a very bad thing for NATO.
Mr. President. Mr. President. Are there any repercussions for NATO and are you still going to China?
Well, yeah, on China, it's a different story. We're resetting the meeting and it looks like it'll take place in about five weeks. We're working with China. They were fine with it. I look forward to seeing President Xi. He looks forward to seeing me, I think, but I do look forward to seeing him. We have a good relationship with China. China actually has become economically for us very good, very good as you know. It's much different than it was in the past. And we have a very good working relationship with China. So, we're making it in about five or six weeks.
Mr. President. Mr. President. Mr. President. Mr. President. Mr. President. NATO for not supporting you on this. Any repercussions?
Well, I don't know. I just think that it's not good for a partnership when they say what you're doing is a great thing, but we're not going to help.
Mr. President, because the Iranian regime has told Sky News if you put boots on the ground in Iran, it will be another Vietnam. Are you afraid of that?
No, I'm not afraid of — I'm really not afraid of anything.
Are you rethinking the United States relationship with NATO possibly getting out?
Well, I'm disappointed in NATO that we spend trillions of dollars on NATO. Think of it, trillions over the years, many trillions of dollars. It's one of the reasons we have deficits and we help other countries. And when they don't help us, I mean, it's certainly something that we should think about. I don't need Congress for that decision, as you probably know. I can make that decision myself. I'd work with some very smart people. And I'd always deal with Congress anyway, but I don't need Congress for that decision. But, you know, when you say rethink, I have nothing currently in mind, but I will say that I'm not exactly thrilled when we help them with Ukraine. Look, Ukraine would have been over in one day if we didn't help. Frankly, Ukraine would have been over in the first day. They had the best equipment in the world. It was our equipment given by Sleepy Joe Biden. No charge. No charge. Hundreds of billions of dollars of the best equipment in the world, no charge. I will say that I'm not happy about it.
And one on Cuba. Is Iran now a bigger foreign policy priority for you than China? And on Cuba, the Cuban government —
Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days. Because the navy was wiped out almost immediately. The air force came next. The anti-aircraft came next. I mean, we're flying over Iran. We could take out their electric capacity in one hour. Well, there's nothing they can do right now because everything is knocked out. They have no — again, no radar, no anti-aircraft, they have nothing. And it was a decision I made. We discussed it. Pete, Marco, JD, all of us, Chris. We discussed it. We can knock out their electricity in a matter of minutes if we wanted to. There's nothing they can do about it. We can knock out their oil in Kharg Island. The only thing we didn't take down was their oil because if we knock out a column, the pipes are very complex. But if you do that, it'll take them forever to rebuild. Meaning whoever — and hopefully it's a sane group of people. But whoever it is that's going to be running that, and we're going to try to get people that are going to run it well. And you know, it's going to be a prosperous, wonderful place. It used to be — if you go back, it used to be a very — the people are great. The people are smart and energetic and it used to be very successful. Now it's a country run by fear. It's a country where they tell protesters, "Don't go outside because if you do, we're going to kill you."
Well, Cuba right now is in very bad shape. They're talking to Marco. And we'll be doing something with Cuba very soon. We're really focused on this. But we're dealing with Cuba. Marco, do you want to say a couple of words about it?
Yeah, I mean, Cuba has an economy that doesn't work and a political and governmental system they can't fix. It's not dramatic enough, it's not going to fix it. So, they've got some big decisions to make over there.
Mr. Secretary, Secretary Rubio, do you support — and I know this is up to Congress — but do you support easing the Cuban trade embargo if you get more cooperation from Havana?
Well, I'm not going to discuss what we would talk about or not. Suffice it to say that the embargo's tied to political change on the island. The embargo's codified. But the bottom line is their economy doesn't work. It's a non-functional economy. It's an economy that has survived — it's for 40 years that revolution — it's not even a revolution. That thing they have has survived on subsidies from the Soviet Union and now from Venezuela. They don't get subsidies anymore, so they're in a lot of trouble. And the people in charge are in — they don't know how to fix it. And so, they have to get new people in charge. That's what has —
And the relationship we have with Venezuela has been, I think you could almost say incredible. It's been really good. It's been good for Venezuela and it's been good for us. And I congratulate the Venezuelan baseball team because that was a big win and I guess they play another game tonight in the finals. This is the first time they've ever been in the finals and it was pretty exciting. Yeah.
