Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
GEORGE W. BUSH coined the phrase Axis of Evil. The world now finds that it has to do a crash course on dealing with an emerging “Alliance of Iniquity”, the malevolent partnership between Trump and Putin.
This dismal reality forms the backdrop to the Taoiseach’s otherwise traditional St Patrick’s Day engagements in Washington next week.
Presidents Trump and Putin, in addition to being best buddies, increasingly seem to represent two sides of the same coin. They dismiss international law. They favour strong men over democrats. They believe they have the right to seize other countries, even if Trump — with his ludicrous pretensions to ownership of Panama, Canada, Greenland and Gaza — is, for the moment, more bark than bite. Their pronouncements deliberately decouple language from any meaning. Putin, to cite one example, calls his gratuitous invasion of Ukraine a “defensive” operation. Trump calls those imprisoned, through US courts of law, for the violent 2020 attack on the Capitol and on US democracy itself, “hostages”.
There isn’t a shadow of doubt that Micheál Martin is right to accept Trump’s invitation to Washington; not despite the emerging Alliance of Iniquity but, all the more so, because of it. There is a consensus amongst EU Member States, and likeminded countries including the UK and Canada, that it’s important to try to engage with Trump’s Washington. They are also determined — apart from Prime Minister Orban, Hungary’s shameless autocrat — not to abandon decent principles, but rather to assert them even more strongly. It is self-evident that Europe must now work urgently to develop its capacity to act on its own to defend its interests, including militarily. However, it must at the same time use what influence it can to seek to pull Trump back towards some measure of rationality.
The objective of influencing Trump is not without some hope. There are debates ongoing within his administration, including on tariffs, which everyone knows will damage the US itself. Several Republican members of Congress understand the threats to democracy, both from Russia and in the United States itself, and may one day begin to grow a backbone. Moreover, Trump’s unpredictability can work both ways. It leads to bizarre pronouncements but can also result in his almost immediate reversal of those positions. Sometimes he even questions whether he ever made the original statement.
It is very clear that the Taoiseach should steer a middle course in Washington. Being an experienced politician, he knows that very well.
He should neither, on the one hand, concede an inch on positions of principle that are important to the Irish people and reflected in Government policy, including our unwavering support for Ukraine and, as regards the Gaza conflict, our insistence that all innocent lives are of equal value.
Nor, on the other hand, should he opt for confrontation. Not only would that achieve nothing, apart from a few headlines at home, but it would actually be counterproductive to the advancement of Irish interests and values.
The middle course will be for the Taoiseach, calmly and courteously, to assert Irish positions and perspectives and to listen respectfully to those of the US President.
Ireland’s interests, needless to say, include an immense European dimension. In Washington, Micheál Martin will be representing Europe as a whole as well as Ireland. That is not only because trade in particular is a European competence on which the EU Commission will represent Ireland, with all the weight of the Single Market, through the turbulent waters ahead.
It is also because in recent weeks it has become increasingly clear that, in the face of existential threats, the preservation of our democratic European societies depends like never before on concerted and courageous action
President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer’s recent White House meetings illustrated, in their different ways, the only effective way of dealing with Trump, combining flattery with firmness, and enriching Trump’s vague overall objectives — peace in Ukraine and Gaza — with a serious indication, entirely absent from Trump’s pronunciamentos, as to how those objectives can actually be achieved.
Personalities matter. Macron, when he met Trump, was confident, chipper and touchy-feely. Starmer was more reserved, serious and deferential. Both of them played to their own personal strengths and performed impressively.
Micheál Martin will be emotionally intelligent, courteous, engaging and statesmanlike. He will judge for himself, better than anyone could advise him, how best to play his Washington meetings. He may have to be agile in responding to the unpredictability and volatility of the President and his Vice President.
It seems unlikely that they will attempt to repeat their disgraceful ambush of President Zelenskyy in front of the cameras. If they try anything on in front of the media, it might be best for the Taoiseach — gently, firmly and briefly — to recall Ireland’s approach and to suggest that they go into more detail in their private working sessions. Playing to the cameras is more likely to suit the hosts than their visitor.
The Taoiseach, like Macron and Starmer before him, will not persuade Trump to change his views. But if he simply reminds him that there are other views, it will be a good day’s work, for Ireland and for Europe.
Oh, and Happy St Patrick’s Day, Mr President.
Bobby McDonagh is a former Irish Ambassador to the EU, UK and Italy. He is an executive coach and commentator on subjects around EU and Brexit.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say