Irish PM boxes clever as Trump doubles down on Starmer ‘disappointment’

Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin prides himself on his boxing skills from the years he spent as an amateur in the ring and those skills came in handy in Washington on Tuesday.

His opponent? President Donald Trump. The venue? The Oval Office, home territory for the US leader. And the subject for sparring? Sir Keir Starmer, among other things.

At the end, Martin came out intact having defended the man who had helped restore Anglo-Irish relations without triggering a backlash from his US host.

Every year the taoiseach makes a trip to the US and has an audience with the president at the White House.

It soon became clear he would have to be fast on his feet, as the meeting was dominated with talk about Iran and fighting in the Middle East.

The US president reserved his harshest criticism for the UK, citing its lack of participation and assistance in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He repeated his comment that Starmer was “no Winston Churchill”, referencing the UK’s most famous war leader.

Trump also said he was “disappointed” in the prime minister, adding he had not “been supportive” of the US in the Middle East and accusing him of making a “big mistake” on Iran.

Martin, who just last Friday hosted Starmer in his home town of Cork for a UK-Ireland summit, was quick to defend his colleague across the Irish Sea.

“Churchill was a great wartime leader, although in Ireland, it was kind of a different perspective in terms of the War of Independence,” he said.

“He created his own bit of difficulties for us.”

Elsewhere, Martin needed all of his delicate footwork when dodging the presidential jabs including digs about Ireland’s crafty negotiating skills poaching US big business to the cowardice of fellow EU countries who have refused to joins Trump’s war effort.

The taoiseach is also a master at the diplomatic side step as he was challenged by journalists to mention the school children killed in the first wave of attacks in the Middle East.

He also did not get drawn into whether he believed the war was illegal when encouraged to do so by journalists in the room.

Martin even avoided correcting Trump when he referred to Irish President Catherine Connolly as “he” when responding to recent criticisms she made about the US attack on Iran being “a brutal assault on international law”.

The taoiseach knew when to step in and when to step back.

After 40 minutes of intense questioning alongside the most unpredictable of presidents, Martin was relieved to escape unscathed.

It was a bout he did not win but also did not lose.