Donald Trump and Micheál Martin at the shamrock bowl presentation in the East Room of the White House yesterday. Sent Monday to Friday when the Dáil is in sessionHow do you survive an encounter with a shark? For the overwhelming majority of the Taoiseach’s 40 minutes on the periphery of Trump’s vision, the Irish politician maintained a wise silence. According to the elastic rhetoric of the White House, Operation Epic Fury only needs to tie up a couple of loose ends – like neutering Iran’s nuclear capabilities (the same nuclear capability that the same White House claimed to have already “completely and totally obliterated”). “I think it would have hit Europe, maybe not Ireland, but it would have hit Europe,” Trump told Martin.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2026 18:46 UTC