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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Colin Brennan

US President Joe Biden to speak on willingness to work with Taoiseach as Donald Trump dealt blow

US president Joe Biden will give a message at the annual Glucksman Ireland House dinner this evening.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin will also address the event virtually.

It is the first official engagement by new US President Biden with an Irish American event since his January inuguration.

It is understood that Biden will speak about his Irish heritage,  which gave him “a sense of pride that spoke of both continents, a heart and soul that drew from the old and new – a pride in community, faith, and, above all, family”, the Irish Times reports.

Biden traces his roots to Co Mayo and Co Louth.

He is the first American president with an Irish-Catholic background since John F Kennedy.

(REUTERS)

The Glucksman Ireland House gala in New York is being held virtually for the first time.

Among those to be honoured include former president Mary McAleese, vice-chair of Bank Of America Anne Finucane and New York Times journalist Dan Barry.

Biden is expected to explain his willingness to work with Taoiseach Martin to address the great challenges of the present, including the pandemic, economy and climate.

An Taoiseach Micheal Martin TD speaking to the media (Collins Photos Dublin.)

This St Patrick's Day, Taoiseach Micheal Martin won't travel to Washington this year as is the custom while virtual events are planned to March 17th.

St Patrick’s Day parades are being cancelled for the second year running.

Glucksman Ireland House is one of the top  institutes for Irish studies in America and is part of New York University.

Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to stop investigators inspecting his declarations to the taxman (Getty)

It comes as Donald Trump has been dealt a blow in his fight to keep his tax records secret.

America’s Supreme Court today cleared the way for a New York prosecutor to obtain the former President's financial returns.

The move ends Trump’s years-long repeated attempts to stop investigators from inspecting his declarations to the taxman.

The ex-US leader consistently argued the subpoena issued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was overboard and issued in bad faith.

“The work continues,” Vance said in response to the Supreme Court order.

The ruling means a grand jury investigation into alleged hush-money payments and other issues will no longer be hampered by Trump's fight to keep the documents secret.

The documents will be subject to grand jury secrecy rules that restrict their public release.

Vance is investigating whether the Trump Organisation falsified business records to conceal hush payments to two women.

Adult actress Stormy Daniels was paid £100,000 not to discuss claims she had sex with Trump just months after First Lady Melania had given birth to son Barron.

She was handed the money by Trump's then-personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who later was reimbursed by the US leader.

Former Playboy model Karen McDougal claimed she had an affair with the President before he entered the White House.

She was paid £116,000 by the Trump-friendly publisher of The National Enquirer tabloid.

Both payments were made shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has denied the allegations he had affairs with Daniels and McDougal.

The records are held by Trump's longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, which has said it would comply with a court order.

The papers are thought to contain details about the US leader's business practices, his bankruptcies and where his money has come from.

In October 2018, Trump was accused of taking part "in dubious tax schemes" including "outright fraud", that are alleged to have greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.

The President, whose lawyers denied the claims, has always boasted he is a self-made billionaire.

But in a bombshell investigation conducted by the New York Times, it claimed Trump, who was made a millionaire at the age of eight, received the equivalent today of at least $413 million (£294 million) from his father's real estate empire.

The paper claimed its information was based on thousands of tax returns and financial records and interviews with former employees and advisers to Trump's father.

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