Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s first openly-gay head of state, met with President Donald Trump Thursday, just days after criticizing the Trump administration on LGBT rights.
“We’ve always seen America as a beacon of freedom. This is the land of the free, the home of the brave, this is where the gay rights movement began,” Varadkar said at the SXSW festival last weekend.
“It’s really tough to see a country built on freedom, build on individual freedom, not being a world leader in that space anymore. I think the majority of American people would agree with what I have to say, even if the administration doesn’t.”
At a brief press event with Trump and Varadkar Thursday afternoon the president told reporters the two leaders spoke about trade, border walls, military, and “cyber.”
“A tremendous number of Irish are living in New York, where I grew up,” Trump told the “Taoiseach,” Varadkar’s official title.
No word from either if they discussed LGBT rights, but Irish newspapers were calling on Varadkar to bring it up. He had said he will when he meets with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday for a breakfast.
Pence has banned the press from the event.
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