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Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has said he could ‘throw many jabs’ at the Irish prime minister over comments made about his St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.
McGregor, 36, held President Donald Trump’s left hand and placed his right fist over the president’s right shoulder as the two smiled widely in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.
During their meeting McGregor said ‘Ireland is on the cusp of losing its Irishness’, claiming an ‘illegal immigration racket’ was ‘running ravage on the country’.
His comments were immediately criticised by Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Taoiseach – or prime minister – who said: ‘Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.
‘St Patrick’s Day around the world is a day rooted in community, humanity, friendship and fellowship.’
In response, as he left the White House, McGregor angrily told reporters: ‘Shame on him for saying that, for speaking down on an Irish man.
‘I won’t speak about him personally, or throw a jab – I could, I could throw many jabs at him, I could throw jobs handily at them – however, I speak on the metrics, and the metrics show they have failed the people of Ireland.’
He said ‘God bless Ireland, God bless America’ as he walked away from the cameras.
During the meeting in the Oval Office, McGregor told Trump: ‘I’ll tell you what your work ethic is inspiring. Your work rate is inspiring.’
Trump replied: ‘Yours is too. You are fantastic.’
Trump shared a photo of McGregor wrapping his arms around him on X (formerly Twitter), and included a shamrock emoji.
McGregor and Trump joked about the former UFC champion’s wearing a dark green pinstripe three-piece suit, and about a map showing the Gulf of America instead of the Gulf of Mexico, in a video shared by Trump’s special assistant and communications director, Margo Martin.
Trump also reposted a photo of himself sitting at the Resolute Desk with McGregor and Elon Musk flashing thumbs up, McGregor’s wife Dee Devlin, British TV producer Mark Burnett, and McGregor’s four children dressed in green.
Why is Conor McGregor meeting Donald Trump today?
McGregor, who was born in a Dublin suburb, visited the White House for St Patrick’s Day and to ‘raise the issues the people of Ireland face’.
He described it as ‘the most important meeting of (Ireland’s) future’ with Trump.
McGregor made a surprise appearance earlier in the White House press briefing room to claim an ‘illegal immigration racket is ravaging our country’.
‘What’s going on in Ireland is a travesty,’ he declared. ‘Our government is a government of zero action.’
The UFC star visited while continuing to fight sexual assault cases against him, including a court’s decision late last year ordering him to pay £200,000 to a woman who claimed he raped her in a hotel penthouse.
McGregor addressed the 40million Americans with Irish heritage, many of whom are descended from people who fled poverty and starvation in Ireland.
‘There will be no place to come home and visit,’ he told them, adding that the country is ‘potentially losing its Irishness’.
Shortly afterward, Irish leaders sought to distance themselves from McGregor.
Irish Taoseach Micheál Martin called McGregor’s claims ‘wrong’ and not reflective of Irish people’s views.
Deputy prime minister Simon Harris stated that McGregor was not in the US to represent Ireland and ‘has no mandate to’ do so or speak for Irish people.
McGregor said that ‘it’s also St Patrick’s Day so a little celebrations for sure’.
He praised Trump in the press briefing room as ‘inspiring’ and said there would be ‘a little bit of learning and listening’ for him.
What have Conor McGregor and Donald Trump said about each other in the past?
Trump just days earlier in a White House meeting with Martin spoke highly of McGregor.
‘Conor’s great, right?’ said Trump.
‘You have a lot of great Irish fighters. I don’t know what that is, but Ireland has always had a lot of good fighters. You know why? Because they’re tough people. They’re smart people and they’re passionate people.’
Trump also said McGregor is his favorite Irish person in part because ‘he’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen’.
McGregor responded on social media: ‘Thank you President Trump.’
Trump met with McGregor despite ongoing sexual assault cases against him.
A woman sued McGregor in January, alleging that he sexually assaulted her in a restroom after a Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets NBA Finals game in 2023.
The woman filed criminal sexual assault allegations against McGregor in June 2023. The Florida State Attorney’s Office decided against pursuing charges in October 2023, leading McGregor’s lawyer, Barbara Llanes, to say that there was ‘no case to pursue’.
‘Almost two years and at least three lawyers later the plaintiff has a new false story,’ she told ESPN at the time.
‘We are confident that this case too will be dismiss.’
McGregor has denied the allegations since 2023.
In the hotel penthouse case, Ireland’s director of public prosecution decided not to criminally charge McGregor. But his accuser, Nikita Hand, then initiated a civil case against him and won in November.
McGregor shook his head as he heard the verdict and stated he would be appealing the decision.
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‘The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages,’ he said at the time.
‘I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide.’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt joked that McGregor was ‘taking over the podium’ and allowed him to leave when a Daily Mail reporter asked him about undocumented Irish immigrants in the US.
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