The St Patrick’s Day sitdown in the Oval Office was delayed by almost an hour, reflecting the chaos of an administration dealing with unfolding events. He had two choices as Trump recited an increasingly cranky litany of complaints which slowly but surely concentrated on Starmer, who must have choked on his cornflakes if he was watching on from Westminster. Nor did Martin elect to enlighten Trump to the fact that Ireland’s president is a woman. Neither of these events were likely to enhance Trump’s morning mood and the scheduled 10.45 Oval Office meeting was delayed by a full hour. The Oval Office meeting had opened with misty-eyed reminisces about Ireland’s key players in America’s political evolution and happy forecasts about the Irish Open at Doonbeg.

Source: The Irish Times March 17, 2026 20:52 UTC