Fianna Fáil fury as Simon Harris picks fight with US officials

Fianna Fáil ministers were furious with Tánaiste Simon Harris last night for picking a "stupid" fight with the US Secretary of State.

Ahead of the Taoiseach’s crucial visit to the White House next week, the Foreign Affairs Minister directly contradicted yesterday the US State Department’s account of a call between himself and Marco Rubio on Tuesday, March 4.

A readout of the call provided by the American department said Mr. Rubio and Mr. Harris’ discussed the US priority to "address the US-Ireland trade imbalance."

This point was not mentioned in Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs statement on the call, and yesterday, the Tánaiste denied it was raised.

Engaging call this afternoon with US Secretary of State @marcorubio.
A productive discussion on Ireland-US relations, global challenges like Ukraine & the Middle East, and economic ties that support jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. Looking forward to continued engagement🇮🇪🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4omI6Nh2qx

— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 4, 2025

Asked about the discrepancy in the readouts by Extra.ie, Mr. Harris said: "The trade imbalance wasn’t specifically referenced."

Senior Fianna Fáil figures now fear that Mr. Harris has made Micheál Martin’s task even more difficult.

One Fianna Fáil minister told Extra.ie last night that "picking a fight" with the US Secretary of State at any stage "isn’t a good idea," but six days out from the White House meeting, "it’s just stupid."

President Donald Trump has railed against nations that enjoy a trade surplus with the US, while his Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has previously said it is "nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus."

It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense. We don’t make anything here anymore—even great American cars are made in Mexico. When we end this nonsense, America will be a truly great country again. You’ll be shocked!

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) October 16, 2024

"It will be raised by journalists"

Extra.ie understands that unlike with the previous US administration, there was no agreement between both sides on what details from the call would be circulated to the media.

Mr. Harris’s camp was adamant that the US version "was not accurate." But one well-placed US source told Extra.ie: "If they put that in the State Department readout, you can be pretty sure it’s intentional."

Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Mr. Martin faces the daunting prospect of meeting Mr. Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday to mark St. Patrick’s Day. The March 12 meeting is on the same date that 25% tariffs on European exports to the US are due to be implemented.

The Taoiseach will be the first foreign leader to visit the Oval Office since the humiliating visit by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky last week, where Mr. Rubio was present.

Ministers are expecting the row over the readouts to be raised in the Oval Office in front of the world’s media.

"The way they feed red meat to the White House press corps at the moment will ensure that it will be raised by journalists," they said.

One minister said the incident will "100%" add to the apprehension of the Taoiseach’s staff ahead of the crunch meeting.

Important week

Another Fianna Fáil minister said the Government was "very fortunate" that it was Mr. Martin who was "taking the meeting" next week with Mr. Trump, adding: "I think as Harris has often said himself, diplomacy is often best done person to person and face to face, not through the media or any other forums.

"Next week is an important week from our perspective and Mr. Martin has years of experience and has diplomatic skills."

The Taoiseach this week repeatedly declined to say whether he would push back on any comments from Mr. Trump that were untrue. Last week, he also dodged a question on whether he thought Mr. Trump was an ally of the EU, instead saying the US president was an "ally of peace."

One senior Fianna Fáil minister said, "the less contradiction we have, the better."

They added: "We need to be very level-headed in the days and weeks ahead because every word is latched onto, not just here in Ireland but across the water on both sides of us. It’s very tricky for Micheál; whatever is said to him, he may just have to take it on the chin."

Asked about the discussion on trade imbalances yesterday, Mr. Harris initially dodged the question, saying they had discussed the Middle East and that he had told Mr. Rubio that the scenes that had played out between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump were "deeply unsettling and upsetting."

He said that it was he, and not Mr. Rubio, who brought up trade because he was "conscious that Secretary Rubio doesn’t have responsibility for trade… and that is Secretary Lutnick."

Transatlantic trade relationship

Mr. Harris continued: "I did want to take the opportunity on the call with him to say that, look, I know when any government gets elected including a US government, of course, it has every right to pause and examine its economic policies, its trade policies, its relationship with other countries."

Pressed by Extra.ie on who brought up trade imbalances, Mr. Harris said: "I didn’t bring up the trade imbalance. I brought up the importance of the transatlantic trade relationship."

When it was pointed out to him that Mr. Rubio’s official readout from the meeting had flagged that the trade imbalance was a "priority" of the Trump administration, Mr. Harris said: "The trade imbalance wasn’t specifically referenced. I was on the call. I was on it for over 20 minutes. We had a very good conversation. I made the points, just as I’ve said, and that was the extent of the discussion in relation to trade."

Asked if the American readout of the call was wrong, he said: "No, the Americans obviously have their perspective in relation to the issue of trade."

He went on: "I said the trade relationship was discussed. Secretary Rubio said to me that he understood the importance of the transatlantic economic relationship."

US sources have stressed, however, that Ireland should not underestimate the significance of the exchange. They pointed to a Wall Street Journal article on Ireland’s recent economic success, which the paper said was due to America.

"I cannot overstate the significance of that story," they said, adding that it was designed to catch Mr. Trump and his top advisers’ attention.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie. Additional reporting by Craig Hughes.