US President Donald Trump lashed out overnight at Ukraine for targeting Russian oil refineries, vowed to end tariffs on Irish whiskey and played down the threat from artificial intelligence on a two-day trip to Ireland, which again saw him mix diplomacy and 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 said that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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 — not 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 and fueling speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates just weeks before the US midterm elections.
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The US national average price for diesel, which is used by trucks, trains, ships and farm equipment, rose over US$6 ($8.37) a gallon for the first time on Thursday, according to price tracker GasBuddy.
Russia downgraded its oil output forecast for this year to a 17-year low and revised its fuel exports outlook for 2026 and 2027 due to the war, according to a government draft forecast.
Whiskey tariff, AI safety and Irish reunification
At the end of his visit to Ireland on Sunday local time, Trump said he would remove a 10 per cent tariff on Irish whiskey, a duty that currently applies to all European Union wine and spirit exports to the United States.
Trump made the announcement in front of a crowd of golf fans at the Irish Open. He met Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in Dublin on Saturday at the start of a 48-hour visit to the country.
“Taoiseach (Ireland’s Prime Minister) and I talked about it and Shane (golfer Shane Lowry) talked about it and everybody has been bugging me saying ‘would you do me a favor? It’s so unfair what’s going on. Could you possibly take the tariffs off of Irish whiskey?,” Trump said.
“And I said on behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off Irish whiskey,” he announced to loud cheers from the crowd.
He also weighed in on the growing controversy over AI safety, saying that “negative” forces opposed its development.
On Saturday, he caught his Irish hosts and neighbouring Britain off-guard when he announced he would “love to see” a united Ireland.
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Breaking with Washington’s traditional neutrality on the historically charged topic, Trump argued that 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 said as he met Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin in Dublin, prompting pushback from British loyalists in Northern Ireland and some leading UK politicians.
But he reaffirmed his remarks Sunday.
“It would seem to me that one of the naturals of all time is to put them together,” he added, insisting “many people agree”.
Trump’s arrival in Doonbeg on Saturday sparked road closures and police checkpoints. Around 30 people protested his visit in Doonbeg village Sunday.
“Donald Trump is not welcome in Ireland,” William Hederman, 53, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), accusing him of helping Israel commit genocide in Gaza.
Trump’s attendance at the golf course he has owned since 2014 added extra complexity to a security effort reportedly costing Ireland 20 million euros ($32.4 million).
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The former real estate magnate, who promotes his enterprises at every opportunity, was joined in the remote corner of Ireland by his sons, Eric and Don Jr.
They 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 twice been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists in the past 18 months.
Police said three women — aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s — had appeared in a western Irish court late Saturday after being arrested for separate trespass and public order offences there.
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. He 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 that Trump has used his presidency to enrich himself, as his personal wealth has rocketed 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 Trump’s conduct could send the message “that the way to curry a favour with the president is to patronise his properties, do business with his companies and so forth”.
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