Put bluntly, Trump uses these briefings via the media to let the public know exactly where he stands on issues and equally importantly, what he proposes to do.
One of the latest media set-pieces at the White House turned into a modern day version of the Gunfight at the OK Coral between Trump and his Vice President JD Vance on one hand, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other - probably leaving the latter thinking he should have remained as a comedian.
But it was a previous lengthy media briefing at which Trump introduced his new cabinet which should send alarm bells ringing for Leinster House in particular and the Southern Ireland economy in general.
Trump made very clear his utter distain for the European Union. For ardent Right-wing Brexiteers like myself, it was political poetry! Trump maintained the EU had been established to ‘screw’ the United States!
And you can read into the blunt language that the Trump administration intends to return the serve economically in terms of trade tariffs which will hopefully ‘screw’ the EU! Luckily for us Brits, we’ve voted to leave the EU so hopefully any new UK-US trade deal will avoid the economic hell about to be dropped on EU member states.
Given that Southern Ireland’s Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Micheal Martin has shown the good sense to accept Trump’s invitation to the White House for the traditional St Patrick’s Day celebrations later this month, it would not surprise me if The Donald didn’t have some choice words for the Taoiseach when it comes to Southern Ireland’s trade links with the United States - Get the heck out of the EU before you are ‘screwed’!
Leinster House needs to swallow some bitter economic medicine - Trump is not Biden, and if Southern Ireland wants those precious American dollars, it will have to play by Trump rules, so forget Sleepy Joe’s electioneering speeches during his Southern Irish state visit; those words were merely to rally the Irish American vote back in the USA. They clearly failed in last November’s Presidential election.
Indeed, the last thing Taoiseach Martin will want is a Zelensky-style public dressing down in the White House from Trump himself, especially if Martin was to be foolish enough to sing the praises of the EU in front of the American President.
When the UK voted democratically to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, talk of Southern Ireland also leaving because it was going to be geographically isolated from the rest of the EU was seen as utter nonsense.
But with Trump now seemingly hell-bent on ‘screwing’ the EU, perhaps Irexit is no longer a theoretical fantasy, but a political necessity if Southern Ireland’s famous Celtic Tiger economy is to survive the rages and ravages of the Trump tariffs.
If the Trump administration can persuade Southern Ireland that its long-term future lies outside the EU, it would mean the end of the Irish Sea border, the Protocol and all the bureaucratic millstones which the EU heaped on Northern Ireland because of its land border with the South.
For Northern Ireland, Brexit will finally be achieved and Northern Ireland will be on an equal footing within the UK.
Southern Ireland’s political and business establishments need to get it through their heads that Trump is no pussy-footing-around President like his predecessor Biden. Given the number of executive orders and colourful language press briefings, Trump is a man who means business and wants to get it done ASAP.
In one briefing recently, he used the word ‘crap’. What he really meant was woke liberalism. In spite of the British Labour Party being the champions of woke liberalism, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer knew how to play the Trump game in terms of diplomacy. There was no Zelensky-style meltdown at the Trump-Starmer Oval Office press briefing.
And if Starmer wants his premiership to be remembered for a lucrative and historic UK-US trade deal which avoids any damaging tariffs, he will silence the woke liberals in Labour calling for another referendum on rejoining the EU.
With the pan nationalist front of Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance playing the Gaza card in terms of not attending the 17 March White House celebrations, it rests on the shoulders of Unionist elected representatives to broker a unique trade deal for Northern Ireland with Trump.
During his recent visit, Starmer delivered a letter from King Charles inviting Trump for a state visit to the UK. Could this also include a trip to Northern Ireland given that the East Londonderry constituency is again hosting a major golf tournament in July?
Perhaps at long last with Trump now firmly in the Oval Office we can see Brexit finally done, the ‘screwing’ of the EU, and the emergence of a new Europe of independent nations totally free of Brussels diktats.
When the shamrock is drowned in Washington on 17 March, that would be an additional toast worth making. Do Taoiseach Martin and the Unionist representatives have the courage to do this?
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
