The Taoiseach’s senior officials need to possess a variety of skills and abilities. Among them is the ability to show a poker face in meetings with foreign leaders. Never was that ability more tested than today, when Donald Trump threw in his tuppence worth about the desirability of a united Ireland.
Trump’s comments are likely to cause at least temporary consternation in the Irish and British governments, and a longer-term unease among unionists. His remark that Micheál Martin was “the right man over here to get it moving” are also likely to be deeply unwelcome on the part of the Taoiseach, who has faced criticism from the pro-unity lobby – and from some quarters within his own party – for not being more enthusiastic about the prospect. Trump’s “it’s going to happen so you might as well do it now” approach is the complete opposite of the Taoiseach’s slow and careful treatment of the unity question. Sinn Féin now finds itself in the unusual position of agreeing with Trump, on this issue at least.
But actually what matters is not what Trump says. As anyone who watched Trump’s address to the reception at the US ambassador’s residence will have been reminded, Trump is prone to talk – in the words of former President George W Bush – “some weird shit”. What matters is what Trump does and his comments on a united Ireland did not mark a change of US policy towards Northern Ireland.
They are, nonetheless, a fillip to campaigners for a united Ireland and will remind unionists that much of the rest of the world – to the extent that they think about it at all – expects Irish unity to happen at some stage. Expect Sinn Féin to confront Micheál Martin with it: “Even Donald Trump gets it …”
Trump’s speech in the Deerfield residence marquee was a good example of the style and context of his public oratory. Most people have probably never seen a full Trump speech, or an entire press conference, but rather just clips and soundbites. But it’s worth watching the full, unexpurgated thing: it is quite a ride.
Beauty queens, corporate titans and Michael Flatley gather for Trump’s meandering address
His speech this morning was the familiar mix of humour, braggadocio, bluster, self-delusion and outright lies. It is by turns funny, infuriating and downright terrifying. But it was also a good illustration that everything he says cannot necessarily be taken seriously.
Otherwise the political part of the visit passed off without disaster, which is always the ambition for meetings with the mercurial, unpredictable Trump. President Catherine Connolly, in a carefully worded statement, insisted that she “conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted”.
Whether any of this landed with Trump is debatable. He did, unusually, refer a question about the meeting during the press conference at Farmleigh to one of his officials to answer, so maybe that is some indication that he was aware of its sensitivity. Or maybe he thought that talk about war and genocide had nothing to do with him. Either way, Trump spoke warmly about the encounter, while Connolly fulfilled expectations that she would raise these issues with him. She clearly didn’t confront him with accusation and attitude, but she was never going to.
In a way, everyone got what they wanted out of the visit. The Taoiseach and the Government maintained friendly relations with the Trump administration – “never been as good as it is right now,” Trump declared – while stressing the mutually beneficial business ties between the two countries. President Connolly got to make her points about peace. And Trump got to promote his resort and watch some golf.