During the pool spray in the Oval Office, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar of Ireland thanked President Trump for having the Irish delegation at the White House. This visit is “an opportunity to show how close Ireland and America are,” he said. He then continued, talking about the coronavirus – “the big concern Ireland and Europe” has at the moment.
“We have acted just as you have acted decisively in the last couple of days. We have restrictions on travel for example from Italy for a few days already, but as of tomorrow schools will close.” He added: ” We are banning all indoor galleries of more than 100 people … and we’re particularly trying to protect older people and people with chronic diseases.”
PM Varadkar then added: “But as you know, it’s a virus that’s gotten pandemic. It’s all over the world, knows no borders, no nationalities, and I think we all need to work together in the world on this. And America, the richest country in the world, has great scientists, great companies, universities, we need them working on treatments, working on tests and on the vaccine.”
Asked whether Ireland would be excluded from the travel ban on the European Union, President Trump said: “We will be discussing that. We’ll be discussing some of the moves that we’re going to be making.” Prime Minister Varadkar weighed in on the topic saying: “One of the thing we have in Ireland is CBP – American Security – and I went through myself yesterday.”