What did we learn from the Taoiseach’s exchange with Donald Trump?
Lucky generals
Napoleon said he wanted lucky generals, and Micheál Martin was probably lucky with the news agenda on St Patrick’s Day. Two events dominated morning bulletins in Washington: firstly, Trump’s failure to convince Nato allies to join his war in Iran, and secondly, the resignation of top counterterrorism official Joe Kent. With Trump making a lengthy post on Truth Social decrying his “allies” as Martin waited to be shown into the Oval, it seemed like this could sour the president’s mood.
But in the early exchanges, it drew his fire away from topics that could be difficult for Martin (the legality of the war, all-out attacks on the EU, trade and tariffs) and towards terrain where Ireland doesn’t really have a dog in the fight – namely Nato and the Kent resignation.
Taoiseach stays silent
When Trump asked for questions – the most dangerous part of the encounter for Martin – the Taoiseach visibly took a deep breath. But he took a back seat for large swathes of the meeting as Trump riffed on golf, the Kent resignation and Iran in particular. In fact, for the opening 20 minutes of the press conference Martin was effectively mute as Trump held forth.
READ MORE
For the Taoiseach’s camp, this was probably seen as just fine: but without a shadow of a doubt, he will face criticism for being passive. The longer it went on, the stranger it looked, and Martin started to try to interject more as time went on, at some points actively looking to solicit questions or to offer his view – initially being ignored by Trump and the US press pack, who were putting down most of the questions.
Small snails and misgendering the President
In fact, during the first phase of the Q&A his only brief interjection was to tetchily quibble with an Irish journalist who asked a question about a planning objection at Trump’s Doonbeg Hotel on the grounds it would damage a small and rare native snail. Trump wasn’t tempted to have a swipe at the Irish planning system, quipping: “Doesn’t sound like the biggest problem I’ve ever had”.
One of the main political tripwires identified by observers in Ireland was President Catherine Connolly’s comments implicitly rebuking the US administration’s attack on Iran as an assault on international law. How Trump reacted to this was seen as a major risk, but he couldn’t hear the question when it was first asked. Asked again later about Catherine Connolly’s comments, Trump responded “he’s [sic] lucky I exist”.
Martin stayed silent.
[ Trump takes aim at Nato, Europe and Starmer in meeting with Micheál MartinOpens in new window ]
Starmer defence
UK prime minister Keir Starmer came in for heavy criticism, with Trump blasting him for his unwillingness to commit Royal Navy ships to the conflict in the gulf. The US president returned to a favoured skewering of Starmer, comparing him unfavourably to “the late, great Winston Churchill”. Beforehand, all the talk was of jeopardy for Martin – but it was the man he hosted in Cork last week who took more blows from Trump.
Whether it was the criticism of Starmer or if he was growing more conscious of how silent he was being, Martin was looking more uncomfortable. Finally invited to make a contribution by Trump, Martin emphasised the strength of the transatlantic relationship and suggested issues would be solved, praising Starmer’s efforts to reset the British-Irish relationship, and urging Trump to reconcile with the UK leader.
Some won’t be pleased that an Irish Taoiseach’s most substantive contribution during a meeting with the US president was a defence of the British prime minister.
Middle East input
Martin played it safe, when he started talking, on Iran – criticising the regime, emphasising Ireland wanting peace and expressing support for ordinary Iranians. The opposition is likely to target Martin for not criticising the war, and his suggestion that Trump is “doing his bit” for peace in the Middle East, specifically referencing Gaza.
Is he coming?
Asked if he would visit Doonbeg in September for the Irish Open, Trump said Martin had just told him he hoped the US president would come for it, which the Taoiseach confirmed. “We’re going to try,” Trump said, before talking some more about golf.
Does that count as a formal invitation?
Immigration
The closest Martin got to a veiled criticism of Trump was during a discussion in immigration, when he said Europe has been characterised “wrongly” as being “overrun” by immigration – a trope often deployed by Trump and his supporters.
He also managed to drop in an Irish talking point on developing a legal pathway on migration between the US and Ireland.
Scores on the doors
The way it played out, the press conference allowed the instinctively cautious Martin to plot a risk-averse course. The sense of relief from the Taoiseach’s camp afterwards was palpable, and it certainly could have gone a lot worse; last year’s encounter, even though the government judged it a success, contained an awful lot of criticism of the EU and indeed Ireland’s economic model. There was less of that this year.
But Martin’s passivity and unwillingness to directly criticise Trump will be the focus of his opponents.
[ Trump’s envoy warned Ireland was losing US business, records showOpens in new window ]
