want to always see. larry kudlow came in a little ago and he will be outstanding as economic adviser. we will talk to you about it a little bit later. thank you very much. thank you everybody. thank you very much. it could happen. that could happen. [indiscernible] president trump i look forward to being there. [indiscernible conversation] president trump thank you all very much. > thank you all. [captions copyright national satellite corp. 2018] nick nick >> they spoke at the friends of ireland luncheon.

the president spoke about the close ties between the two countries and contributions of theishish. and his time as an intern on capitol hill. this is 25 minutes.

>> if everyone will take their seats, please.

if everyone will kindly take their seats. lease take your seats. the speaker: i want to start off by welcoming everyone. this is one of our most precious traditions. we come together to honor known blarney which means absolutely everybody. nd with all things irish, this began with the good scrap. ronald reagan and tip were fierce political opponents. this goes way back to those days. their heritage was their bond. when it came to ireland, the only thing they would argue about who was more irish.

reagan was saying he was old enough to meet st. patrick. and i'm a real honor to have you here. -- [applause] the speaker: my own family is om a small town in ireland outside of the black mountains. my wife and extended family and i visited visited the town a few years ago and found the family farm came from and my cousins and went to the and bee where our ancestors were married and buried and our cousin william o'shea farms the same place and hey had a great ceremony and d the local tv and the abott

and will congresswoman o'shea was to kick things off and couldn't find a parking spot and all the festivals were waiting and he prayed out loud and said lord, if you find me a parking spot, i will give up drinking whiskey and go to church every sunday and at that moment, the clouds parted and the sun shown down on a parking spot and he said, never mind, i found one myself. [laughter] the speaker: that is one of those jokes. for people who may have heard this before, the great thing about irish jokes, they are repeated. leo, this is not your first time here. and this is a welcome back. and you used to be an intern

here not too many years ago and now that you are the guest of honor, and i think that is just incredible. [applause] many the speaker: i too, started, as enintern here. and this is not all that different. politicians go on and on and you hope to get a free meal. and the good news is we have guiness. it probably tastes better and not the right time to bring up trade issues. [laughter] the speaker: ar our ties with ireland is as great as ever. i look around. we have a senate majority leader that is scott irish and members f the president's cabinet.

about k at this -- think it. you have pence, you have kelly new lvaney and minimum hampshirin and to go on and on. our meetings twice as late, last twice as long and we get half of the decisions made. note, a very serious there is a deep heritage. before notre dame was known as the fighting irish, that name 69th d to the u.s. army iran fan try regimen. lincoln was so moved by the bravery of this brigade that on a visit to the battlefield he picked up acorner of the irish flag and said god bless this

irish flag. god bless the irish people, they have turned darkness to light and hardship into hope. and they were the defenders of our union when we were divided. the irish came here in search of a better life and made this a better country with their faith and passion, to people of gentle hearts and people of strong hearts. in these times as we strive to find peace and opportunity, the friendship of the irish remains our anchor in the choppiest of waters. i would like to offer a toast with the proper head on a guiness. may the winds of fortune sail you, may you sail the gent left sea and may it be the gal though says this drink's on me.

[laughter] -- i aker: at this time don't have my -- i think -- there your father. that's my thought. you are not ready. not yet? i don't think so. it's not your turn yet, father. the priest -- you want to defer. [laughter] the speaker: i would like to introduce not father yet, but the president of the united states. [applause]

president trump thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much, paul. and vice president pence, distinguished members of congress, so many wonderful people from ireland, so many friends and we appreciate it for joining us on this very special occasion. first time was last year and that was a lot of fun. what do we have, six more left after this. [applause] president trump we are welcomed to honor you. we actually knew each other from a different life. and it was very successful. i also want to warmly welcome

mohall who represented a lot of good people. thank you very much, mr. ambassador. your wife, greta. and all of the -- really incredible irish delegation whom i know very well. on patrick's day is to build the lasting bonds between our relationship between united states and ireland. bonds formed through values and a united vision for a peaceful and prosperous future. more than 30 million americans today claim irish heritage. that's why you have such power. 30 million people. among the many wonderful americans who trace their routes back to -- roots to ireland like paul, like kevin, like mike.

i have to look at almost this whole room. but we have a tremendous group of unbelievable leaders and cardinal dole and is a very, very proud person of ireland. it was our first catholic president, john kennedy, who said our nation's sights on the moon. we are looking at march s -- mars. we are going to get there and moving it along. and michael collins who you know ho is of irish descent and pilotted apollo 11 and planted the american flag where no man has done it before. this legacy of accomplishments is would he haven, the tough necessary and grit and our

fundamental american ways of life. so on st. patrick's day we celebrate our close ties with the people of ireland, special, incredible, wonderful people and we look forward to an exciting future that we will all share together and it's an honor to have you with us. and i look forward to seeing you often. whenever there is a problem, you call, just call. except for trade. [laughter] president trump they got the taxes so low, you are a tough one to compete with the taxes. but great job. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, father. no pressure. the speaker: on june 14 of last varadkar became the

13th person in ireland's history to hold the position. leo was the son of an irish born nurse and physician. until seven or eight, he wanted to become the minister of health. he facilitated that position and much, much more. give him a warm welcome to his visiting washington, car.arad [applause] .- varadkar [applause]

prime minister varadkar: thank you. mr. speaker, thank you for the kind invitation to join you this afternoon to celebrate st. patrick's day in this magnificent setting. it is a very special occasion for me as you alooded to the fact that i once worked here in my youth and i served as a

congressional intern working here for jack quinn, representing buffalo, new york. and i know some of you are here today and i used to give tours of this building which is what interns have to do. and that is a strange experience or people coming down an irish intern with an indian name. i gave a pretty mean tour. and i do know each and every statue from each and every state. but it is a very special place for me for another reason as well. one of the things that was given to me when i finished up my time working here was an american flag, "star-spangled banner" that flew over the cannon office building where i worked for some time and i have kept it with me

and one that i keep in my office and that is part of the office. the american flag that flew here 20 years ago. [applause] prime minister varadkar: it reminds of that special friendship that exists between ireland and america and this special place which helped me to develop my view of the world and helped me to learn the art of politics and steered me to the art of politics. i thank speaker ryan who is a long standing friend of ireland and traces his roots back to ireland. it is a beautiful village. i never heard it referred to it before. really very, very beautiful village. and we had a chance meeting some

years ago when he and his family made a private visit to ireland and we ran into each other in the irish senate. i want to thank president trump and in particular for taking the time to be with us here today, continuing a remarkable tradition that was started back in 1983 by ronald reagan and tip o'nil and i'm glad this tradition has continued. we talked about some of the undocumented irish people who are here, hard working people who are loyal to america and what we can do about that, talking about trade, i'm an optimist about that. we can have a new trade deal. and no better man to make a better deal. and if we put our minds to that, it can be done and northern ireland and the need and desires

that we share to make sure we don't go backwards and we don't have a hard border on you are country. i thank congress and the white house for your steadfast support for northern ireland. as the president alluded to the fact that we have been in contact before the president became president and it happened three or four years ago when i was minister for tourism and how small the world is. at the time the ambassador was ireland and there was a rugby match coming up this weekend and -- [laughter] prime minister varadkar: my assistant said there is a call. you know, donald trump wants to

speak to you. and i thought this can't be the case. this has to be a joke from one of my staff members. surely a businessman like donald trump would organize a meeting. but we know donald trump likes to get things done. this resorte bought in ireland. but there is a problem. someone is trying to buy a wind rm and that could have a impact. and i rang and i inquired of the commission and subsequently the commission was declined and the wind farm was never built, thus the landscape having been preserved and the president gave me credit for that. but i think it would have been refused any way. but i'm happy to take credit if the president was going to offer

it to me. to the members of the friends of ireland, led by congressman peter king, you have played a vital role between ireland and america. and the united states has been our most steadfast partner. and i know you all stand to work to ensure that the good friday agreements and the cross community assembly are restored and i'm glad that the secretary state ken bradley and the politicians from northern ireland are here as well. it is a really great source of pride for all of us to see the powerful traditions at the highest levels in your country and i thank you for your continued interest. mr. speaker, mr. president, friends of ireland, there is a

piece of irish wisdom those who turn strangers into friends and friends into family. for september tries we have been each other's family and that is at the heart of the blessing that is at the heart of the irish-american blessing. and thank you very much. [applause] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org [captions copyright national satellite corp. 2018] salt >> jeff flake spoke earlier at the national press club. we will air that at 8:00 p.m.. the house armed services mmittee to counter russian

aggression. that is tonight on c-span. >> c-span's washington journal with news and policy issues that impact you and friday morning, we will talk about what congress is doing with school safety and we'll look at the recent nerve agent attack. and the arms control association. henry olson, senior fellow of the policy center on his book about the future of the republican party. watch "washington journal" live eastern. m. >> this weekend on the c-span networks, saturday at 9:00 a.m. eastern, american history tv on c-span 3 with coverage from forward's theater for the annual

symposium. the greatest invention of the civil war, william harris, author of "linchingon and congress" and abraham lincoln" and life. and walter star, author of "stanton, lincoln's war secretary." ook tv on c-span 2 is live discussing the bible's influence and impact on government, legal systems, education and human rights with the director and take your calls during the program. watch this weekend on the c-span networks. >> next, white house briefing with sarah sanders and talked about the special counsel investigation and the ner