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TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN claimed that US President Donald Trump is “very clued in” to the situation in Gaza during a meeting between the leaders this afternoon in the White House.
Trump and Martin addressed a cohort of reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon, where the proceedings were dominated by the US President.
During the wide-ranging discussion on housing, Ukraine and EU tariffs, Martin was asked if he would discuss the conflict in Gaza with Trump.
Martin told reporters that he “doesn’t have to inform the President about Gaza, he’s very clued in to the whole situation”.
“We share the President’s unrelenting focus on peace,” Martin told reporters.
The Taoiseach added that says as soon as Trump entered the Oval Office, he and his team wanted to get a ceasefire.
“We want to consolidate peace,” the Taoiseach said.
He said there needs to be a surge in humanitarian aid, and that Ireland wants a two-state solution.
“It’s been our view that a two-state solution would be ideal. It’s become more challenging over time,” Martin said. He explained that this had been discussed with Trump “prior to coming in”.
Martin had previously committed to raising Ireland’s views on Ukraine and Gaza during the meeting with Trump
Addressing concerns from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald during Leaders’ Questions last week, Martin outlined that he would explian to te US Preisdent that: “We want to consolidate the ceasefire and we’ll be very strongly making that point.”
Sinn Féin boycotted the White House visit this year over what they said was “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza” – a reference to comments by Trump last month.
Trump had called Gaza a “demolition site”, and said the two million Palestinians who currently live in Gaza could go to “various domains” – adding that his “takeover” plans would not include a right of return for those who left.
Asked by an Irish reporter if the Occupied Territories Bill came up in conversation between the leaders, Trump responded by saying “I can tell you’re not from Israel”.
Trump, seemingly unaware of the Occupied Territories Bill, added that “we talk about everything”.
Speaking on the conflict today, the US President said that the 7 October attack by Hamas was “a terrible, terrible day in the life of the world” and that as President “you get to see clips that you’d rather not see”.
“We’re working hard with Israel. We’re working hard to see if we can solve the problem,” Trump said.
When quizzed yesterday about how he would handle the situation whereby criticism is levelled at Ireland in the meeting for its plans to enact a form of the Occupied Territories Bill, Micheál Martin told Irish reporters: “We’ll take it step-by-step.”
“We’re not going to get into specifics of that now, but we’ll manage that,” Martin told reporters in Austin, Texas ahead of travelling to Washington DC yesterday evening.
No management was needed from Martin, as the Taoiseach was not asked about the Bill in the Oval Office.
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