(AFP) – US President Donald Trump lashed out Sunday at Ukraine for targeting Russian oil refineries, vowed to end tariffs on Irish whiskey, and played down the threat from Artificial Intelligence during a two-day trip to Ireland that again saw him mix diplomacy with personal business interests. Trump ended his stay by presenting the Irish Open golf trophy to tournament winner Shane Lowry at his Doonbeg golf resort on Ireland’s west coast.
The ever-unpredictable American leader stated that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had to do “one thing” and “stop knocking out diesel fuel” refineries in Russia due to growing shortages. “Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel,” Trump said, insisting the Russia-Ukraine war—rather than the US-Israel conflict with Iran—was to blame. Oil prices have soared as attacks in the Middle East have intensified, raising American fuel costs and inflation, along with speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates just weeks before crunch US midterm elections.
Trump also mentioned he would lift tariffs on Irish whiskey following appeals from Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin and golfer Lowry. Whiskey exports to the key US market have suffered since Trump imposed tariffs of up to 15 percent on European Union products. Additionally, he waded into the growing controversy over the safety of AI, stating that “negative” forces opposed its development.
On Saturday, he surprised his Irish hosts and neighboring Britain by announcing he would “love to see” a united Ireland. Breaking with Washington’s traditional neutrality on this historically charged topic, Trump argued that the reunification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland—after more than a century apart—was “going to happen eventually.” “It may as well happen now,” he suggested while meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin in Dublin, which prompted pushback from British loyalists in Northern Ireland and some leading UK politicians. However, he reaffirmed his remarks on Sunday, insisting that “many people agree.”
Trump’s arrival in Doonbeg on Saturday sparked road closures and police checkpoints, with around 30 people protesting his visit in Doonbeg village on Sunday. “Donald Trump is not welcome in Ireland,” William Hederman, 53, told AFP, accusing him of helping Israel commit genocide in Gaza. Trump’s attendance at the golf course, which he has owned since 2014, added extra complexity to a security effort reportedly costing Ireland 20 million euros ($23 million). Spectators cheered when he walked onto the first tee.
The former real estate magnate, who promotes his enterprises at every opportunity, was joined in the remote part of Ireland by his sons, Eric and Don Jr., who have managed the family business since their 80-year-old father returned to the White House last year. The course—set among dunes on the rugged County Clare coastline—has been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists twice in the past 18 months. Police reported that three women—aged in their 20s, 30s, and 40s—appeared in a western Irish court late Saturday after being arrested for separate trespass and public order offenses.
Around 4,000 Irish and US security personnel were involved in the weekend security operation, with anti-drone technology among the measures deployed. The president plays golf most weekends at one of his family’s US properties and is scheduled to host December’s G20 summit at his Miami golfing resort. Opposition Democrats have long complained that blurring the lines between his presidency and personal business interests is corrupt. The White House has aggressively pushed back against claims of conflicts of interest and that Trump has been using his presidency to enrich himself, as his personal wealth has skyrocketed during his second term.
“Since the Civil War, we haven’t had a president with a significant financial conflict of interest from a business enterprise,” University of Minnesota Law School professor Richard Painter told AFP. The former White House ethics lawyer warned that Trump’s conduct could convey the message that “the way to curry a favor with the president is to patronize his properties, do business with his companies, and so forth.”
– Peter Hutchison, with Aurelia End in Dublin
© 2024 AFP
