The Taoiseach Micheál Martin is proving himself to be a grown-up leader in his dealings with Trump
Published: 13 March 2025
The thinking Irish must be thanking their deity they now have a grown-up Taoiseach. I cannot imagine what President Trump might have done to Micheál Martin’s predecessors – the juvenile Simon Harris and the narcissistic Leo Varadkar.
Martin entered the White House knowing his cards were very weak. What had seemed strengths until recently, and had made much of the world envious, were now part of the well-researched charge sheet prepared by the America First prosecution.
The last few weeks of live coverage of various Trump encounters with the great and good had taught the world that the American president is neither a dolt nor an ignoramus. Indeed he seems to put a great deal of work into mastering his briefs. And it is rare that his rudeness is not calculated; it gets strategic results.
So the mixture of blarney and victimhood that has historically characterised Irish-American relations no longer cuts the mustard. To Trump, Irish offences are legion. This tiny country of only 5.4 million had the fourth largest trade surplus for goods with the US after China, Mexico and Vietnam – €72.6 billion in 2024. 9 of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have a base in Ireland.
Being in a good mood, Trump was showing a grudging admiration for this highway robbery. “All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies,” he told the world from the Oval Office. “This beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp.”
Then there’s military dependency. All of Europe is in a panic to persuade Trump that they will no longer sponge off on America’s defence. For Ireland, there was the recent revelation that it was the lowest spender out of 38 European states on defence as a proportion of its wealth – 0.22 per cent of GDP.
Ireland spends less on defence than Austria and Switzerland, and neither of those European countries have huge maritime areas they are meant to monitor and safeguard. Irish neglect has left Europe’s western flank and its international communications cables utterly vulnerable.
In one of the more unexpected exchanges in their White House discussion, Trump noted that Martin’s father had been a great fighter. “Yet look at you. You’re so smooth.”
We are schooled enough by now to know that personal relationships are not the driving force in Trump’s negotiations. But they are not insignificant. Martin stood up for his country without cringing. It secured him respect from all but the idiots back home who wanted him to demand special treatment and hector Trump about Israel.
But like the rest of the world, Martin is now acknowledging the jurisdiction and strength of the new sheriff in town; Trump’s reasonable demands must be met.
Ireland will no longer be able to rely on its global popularity, the notorious charm of its people and a next-door neighbour who – out of a mixture of historic guilt and decency – can always be relied on to come to its rescue. It needs to face reality and acquire a big stick of its own. Luckily, this Taoiseach is a realist.
