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WHAT WILL DONALD TRUMP say and how can I control it?
That is probably one of the thoughts running around in the mind of Taoiseach Micheál Martin as he thinks ahead to his Oval Office meeting with US President Donald Trump today in the White House.
However, another question he might want to consider is: what questions will the reporters in the Oval Office throw at him and how will he respond?
Like former taoisigh before him, Martin will sit next to Trump in the Oval Office, with a bowl of shamrock between them, as a gaggle of press stream in from the Rose Garden side of the office.
The experience of covering the White House visit as a reporter can be a stressful one.
Journalists arriving at the White House have to first leave their belongings lined up to be inspected by Secret Service dogs. It is then through airport-style security, before being taken to the White House Press Briefing room.
It is exactly how it appears on television: the blue backdrop with the White House branding, the podium centre-stage and rows of seats for reporters.
The media wait in the room before getting the signal that they can line up. This is where things get tense. The nicely nicely chats while waiting around are pushed aside as everyone elbows in to get a good position.
Sectioned into three lots, camera people and photographers, US reporters and the Irish media, the group positions itself just outside the door to the Oval Office. The door opens and it’s a mad rush into the room as journalists push to get a good spot on either side of the two couches in the room.
By the time that is all done, it comes down to the questions. Journalists will be firing questions towards the two leaders.
Anything could be said by Trump. Anything.
What happened between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump in that very room a couple of weeks ago showed that to be true.
But the same consideration should be given to reporters, both from the US and Irish media, who could raise issues such as the Occupied Territories Bill, Ireland’s bumper tax profits, the Apple tax ruling, tariffs on Europe and Ireland’s position on Palestine, to name but a few.
Martin should be well prepped to answer whatever comes his way.
Different US president’s react differently to questions being posed on the St Patrick’s Day visit.
Joe Biden, for instance, would just smile, stare ahead, and rarely respond to questions, making for an awkward situation whereby journalists’ questions were met with silence.
On the other hand, during Trump’s last term as president, he revelled in the moment of being centre of attention on St Patrick’s Day, sometimes allowing for twenty minutes of questions.
In 2017, it was the Irish side that asked Trump an uncomfortable question.
An Irish reporter put it to Trump that Enda Kenny, the then Taoiseach, who was sitting next to him had previously said the language that Trump used was “racist and dangerous”.
Kenny’s eyeballs widened as he appeared to pretend he hadn’t heard what was said, while Trump turned dryly to the Fine Gael leader with a wry smile, asking “is he one of yours?”
Perhaps Martin could take a page out of that playbook and use those very words on Trump if put in a difficult position by a US reporter.
During the exchange with Zelenskyy, it was a US reporter, Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice, who posed the embarrassing question of whether the Ukrainian president owned a suit. The US reporter went viral on social media as a result.
So really, anything could be asked, particularly at a time when the White House has moved to take control over the White House Press Pool slots, which were previously decided upon by the correspondents’ association.
The Trump administration now handpicks which journalists cover the president’s activities, with more mainstream outlets such as Associated Press being left out in the cold.
In 2017, the White House did something similar, keeping outlets like The New York Times and CNN out of a daily press briefings for a time, with reporters themselves being labelled as ‘fake news’ by the president.
Speaking to The Journal at the time, US journalists said the relationship had never been as hostile between the White House and the press. But today’s hostilities might override that statement.
But it is the meeting with the Ukraine president that no doubt will send shivers down the Taoiseach’s spine when he thinks of what could possibly go wrong.
Martin will also be thinking carefully about what he says. There are two audiences he will keep in his mind. The audience back home and the American audience.
There is an expectation that every Irish job and every dollar of US investment must be protected, while at the same time, some will expect him to speak up for the people of Gaza and against Trump’s foreign policy.
A lot will hinge on how Martin does this, with the Taoiseach being the first European leader to meet Trump since that disastrous meeting with the Ukrainian president.
There are some that think the US President could use St Patrick’s Day as an opportunity to embarrass Ireland.
But in the past, Trump appears to have enjoyed marking St Patrick’s Day and the US-Irish relationship. He has also signalled that he does enjoy a positive relationship with Ireland this time around.
Following his election, then Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke to him in November 2024, while the phone call took place shortly after some of the big European players.
So is that telling of Trump’s attitude towards Ireland and its importance in the European pecking order? Perhaps.
He has previously spoken about how he likes doing business with Ireland, and likes Ireland. Oftentimes referring back to his Doonbeg golf resort in Clare, which will no doubt feature in Oval Office chats.
Aside from what Trump will or won’t say, or what questions the media might pose, the Irish government is proceeding with one of the largest charm offensives on the US in many years.
All this speaks to the ways in which Ireland wishes to reach out to this new administration, amidst the risks of trade tariffs being imposed on us.
The Irish government will be hoping that its efforts pay off. In terms of Martin’s meeting with Trump, the Taoiseach will be hoping it is a damp squib that doesn’t make headlines across the world.
Get in, get your key message across, and get out, without any diplomatic incidents. That will be the goal.
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