“It’s in other countries, largely made in China, a lot of it made in Ireland,” he said.

“Ireland was very smart. We love Ireland. But we’re going to have that.”

That echoes comments he made earlier this month when Ireland’s taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin visited the White House.

On that occasion he said: “All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp.”

In 2023, the US was the number-one country for Irish goods exports, buying products worth €54bn (£45bn).

That meant 28% of Irish goods exports were sold into this one market.

Of that €54bn (£45bn), around €36bn (£30bn) related to pharmaceuticals and chemicals, illustrating how Ireland has become a major offshore manufacturing centre for US pharma companies.

Irish exports to the US have continued to surge ahead of expected tariffs being imposed next week.

The value of Ireland’s US goods exports in January was almost €12bn (£10bn), up more than 80% compared to the same month in 2024.

That is likely to reflect companies getting goods, particularly pharmaceuticals, into the US ahead of any new tariffs.

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries.

The companies that bring the foreign goods into the country pay the tax to the government. Firms may choose to pass on some or all of the cost of tariffs to customers.

Trump said his tariff policy is aimed at protecting American businesses and boosting manufacturing in the US.

Meanwhile a leading think tank has become the latest economic forecaster to warn of the impact of US tariffs on the Irish economy.

The Dublin-based Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said the Irish economy started 2025 in a strong position.

Its central forecast is that the domestic economy will grow by 3% this year and 2.8% next year.

However it said in the event of the US and EU imposing 25% tariffs on each other’s goods growth for this year would by 2.8% this year and 2.1% next year.

Conor O’Toole, ESRI researcher, said: “While the Irish economy entered 2025 in a relatively positive position, the outlook is clouded by international developments. Changes in US tariffs and policy will have a notable impact on Ireland and could hurt key sectors such as pharmaceuticals.”