Art of the deal could come up Trumps for Leo in the US
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar will arrive back from his visit to the United States with his stature enhanced. And this will not be because he chose to be provocative or antagonistic towards the American president, Donald Trump, as many had urged him to be, but because he largely stuck to issues which were worth raising and on which he could reasonably expect to make progress, and he did this in a courteous and respectful way.
The “moral” minority would like to have seen the Taoiseach take on the leader of a country to which we are hugely beholden for investment and associated jobs, and lecture and hector him to no great effect.
And they are incensed that he has reversed his own former position by inviting the US president to visit this country, presumably reasonably soon, given that Mr Trump faces an election in 2020.
Mr Varadkar was merely reiterating the original invitation issued last year by his predecessor, Enda Kenny, but nevertheless it was an important step and one that underlined the approach taken at Government level – one in which good manners would be paramount when dealing with a man who seems likely to hold his elected office for another three years, and possibly four more after that.
As the Taoiseach said: “I think it’s absolutely appropriate, normal hospitality, that when someone invites you to their country, their house, you reciprocate with an invitation.”
And of course Mr Varadkar would have been conscious that his visit to Washington was no ordinary trip, but a participation in one of the most envied diplomatic advantages any country could enjoy. The unrivalled access to the most powerful office in the world on an annual basis is not to be trifled with for short-term political popularity.
Mr Varadkar chose to raise the issue of Mr Trump’s planned import tariffs, obviously bearing in mind the importance of the Aughinish Alumina plant in Limerick, but also mindful of the possibility that these tariffs could be expanded to cover other trade.
And as well as reminding the leader of the free world of the benefits of a free market – incongruous in itself – Mr Varadkar also raised the question of immigration and specifically the plight of the many undocumented Irish.
But on this issue he did not come as a supplicant and had something to offer as well. In exchange for some concessions for those Irish caught in a legal limbo in the US, he proposed this country would offer new work visas to American citizens wanting to come to Ireland, and protections for those who would like to retire to the Republic. In this, he hopefully tapped into Mr Trump’s much-vaunted attraction to the art of the deal.
In advance of their meeting, there had been some trepidation that Mr Trump would find it hard to gel with a much younger man from across the Atlantic who is so different to him in so many ways.
But they said the same thing before the US president met President Emmanuel Macron of France. And they ended up becoming firm friends.
Hopefully the Taoiseach will get a chance to cement whatever beneficial relationship he establishes with Mr Trump, when and if his invitation to visit this country is accepted.
His disinclination to join Mr Trump in a round of golf – the Taoiseach doesn’t play the game – should not cause any great difficulty. They will be queueing up to partner him.
The trip to the Border could be a bit more tricky. Apparently the Taoiseach offered this as one of the proposed highlights of Mr Trump’s proposed visit, only because it was something the president asked for.
Well, the first problem will be how to find the Border. It is – for the time being, at least – not a hard border, and there is not much to see.
This could be a source of great disappointment to Mr Trump who may be hoping to see very high and impenetrable walls or, at the very least, an impressive-looking fence.
There were a few other issues which Mr Varadkar had been urged to raise with Mr Trump, like gun control laws and climate change and civil rights including LGBT rights, but sensibly he did not try to shoe-horn everything into his allotted 40-minute audience with a president who has a notoriously low attention span, and does not take well to criticism, but is not immune to flattery.
LESS easy to understand was his decision to discuss the issue of gay rights, including gay marriage, with Vice President Mike Pence. Mr Pence, a politician fiercely proud of his Irish roots, would love to have had a traditional St Patrick’s Day celebration unmarred by having anything remotely controversial raised with him.
But given his extreme right-wing conservative Christian values – he famously cannot trust himself to be alone with a person of the female persuasion in any circumstances – it is hard to think of too many issues that would not come under that heading for him.
In fact, just having lunch with a gay Taoiseach may have seemed a bit daring for him, which is probably why he asked to break precedent and host breakfast behind closed doors and out of the gaze of the prying media.
But this will not have deterred the Taoiseach for, whether it was meeting the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma to thank them for their help during the Famine, or schmoozing with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Texas, or making a success of what could have been a tricky encounter with Donald Trump, he carried it off with aplomb.
And in that he did us all considerable service.
Less easy to understand was his decision to discuss the issue of gay rights, including gay marriage, with Vice President Mike Pence