Trump Praises McGregor and McIlroy

Donald Trump has said MMA fighter Conor McGregor is “great” when asked who his favourite Irish person is. The US president also called Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy a “talented” and “fantastic” player, who he had played a round of golf with three weeks ago. McGregor's Praise

Mr Trump made the comments while in the Oval Office for a meeting with Irish premier Micheal Martin as part of St Patrick’s Day engagements. Asked who his favourite Irish person is, Mr Trump said there were “many”, before remarking: “I do happen to like your fighter.” “He’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen,” he said referring to Mr McGregor. “Conor’s great, right. But you have a lot of great Irish fighters actually, great fighters. Mr Trump said: “Ireland’s always had a lot of good fighters. You know why, because they’re tough people, they’re smart people and they’re passionate people. “I think your father was a great fighter, right?” Mr Trump said to Mr Martin. “He was, yes,” Mr Martin replied. “A very good defensive boxer. He was a good boxer, boxed for Ireland. McIlroy's Acclaim

Later on in the Oval Office, Mr Trump praised Mr McIlroy as one of his favourite golfers. “I think Rory’s great, he’s a great golfer,” he said. “He just won two weeks ago, he’s a great guy, I played golf with him three weeks ago and he’s a really fantastic player. “He’s in good form too, when he played with me he played very well I can tell you. Rory is certainly one of the favourites, he’s a very talented player.” Trade Imbalance Concerns

The meeting comes amid heightened concern that Mr Trump’s protectionist approach to tariffs and tax could pose a significant risk to an Irish economy that is in large part sustained by long-standing investment by US multinationals. The President also raised a “massive” trade imbalance with Ireland during his meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin. Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “There’s a massive deficit that we have with Ireland and with other countries too, and we want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can, and we’ll work together. “But the deficit is massive.” Mr Trump will later be presented with a bowl of shamrock as the centrepiece of the Irish Government’s major overseas diplomatic push in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day on March 17.