TAOISEACH’S WHITE HOUSE DASH
Varadkar defends his trip to the US for meeting with President Trump
‘I was able to have the crucial meetings’
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar says he had second thoughts about coming to the United States at all – but decided he would conduct all his important meetings in 36 hours.
During a press conference on the steps of the historic Blair House – where General Robert E Lee was offered command of the Union Army – Mr Varadkar also said the Irish Army was on standby to help our civil power.
Mr Varadkar was asked whether the Army’s was on a ‘yellow alert’ – and the Taoiseach replied: ‘I can’t go into detail of that but I can say that the Irish Defence Forces are ready to aid the civil power if necessary. Both the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces [Mark Mellett] and the Garda Commissioner [Drew Harris] and their teams have been briefed about plans over the last couple of weeks.’
There have been reports that the Irish Army has prepared a ‘yellow alert’, a heightened level of readiness for a crisis that gives troops provision for 72 hours in the field.
There has been some criticism at home about the Taoiseach’s decision to travel to the United States – he is in Washington DC just as the coronavirus crisis has hit truly terrifying proportions. To make matters worse, he was meeting with a US president facing massive internal criticism for his handling of his own country’s reaction.
The Taoiseach was asked by the Irish Daily Mail whether he had second thoughts about visiting the US at all.
‘I did, absolutely,’ said Mr Varadkar, who was giving a press conference in the hot spring sun opposite the White House. He continued: ‘The original visit was going to be a much longer one that we cut back to roughly 36 hours. But what I managed to do in those 36 hours were the most important, most essential meetings with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and her team on Congress.
‘Also, President [Donald] Trump, Vice President [Mike] Pence. So, in a short visit I was able to have the crucial meetings I used to have, and still be in touch with the office.’
Mr Varadkar gave his press conference outside Blair House, the official US state guest house, where he was staying. Blair House, which stands opposite the White House on Lafayette Square, is where the president of the United States stays the night before his inauguration.
It was here, also, that
President Abraham Lincoln offered General Robert E Lee the command of the Union Army. Lee, instead, took control of the losing Confederate troops in the Civil War.
Mr Varadkar said the meeting with Mr Trump concentrated principally on the coronavirus, but, as it was a particularly long meeting, the two got to discuss the trade gap between the US and Ireland. They also discussed the E3 immigration visa, which President Trump promised to use his influence to push on.
However, it was the coronavirus that dominated all, including the joint press conference of both leaders. As usual though, the event turned into
a tour de force by Mr Trump, who even managed to get in a few digs at the Democrats. When asked whether he was calling off his election rallies, he confirmed he was, while saying the Democrats didn’t need to bother as ‘nobody turns up for them anyway’.
Because of coronavirus concerns, the Taoiseach and President Trump did not shake hands at the White House yesterday, but did bow to each other. President Trump told the press conference in the Oval Office that it felt very strange and that he was ‘sad’.
He said: ‘We didn’t shake hands today and we looked at each other and said, “What are we gonna do?” You know, I just got back from India and I didn’t shake any hands there… I was never a big handshaker, as you probably heard, but once you become a politician, shaking hands is very normal.’
President Trump said it is hard not to shake hands with ‘people that you know and like, they walk up and say hi and they’re just like this [does action of standing with arms by side]’.
‘We were sad,’ added President
Trump, while Mr Varadkar said: ‘It feels impersonal, it feels like you’re being rude but you just can’t afford to think like that for the next few weeks.’
President Trump did not travel to Capitol Hill for the traditional Speaker’s Lunch as his feud with Democrat Ms Pelosi has hit toxic depths since the recent impeachment trial.
He told the press conference that he was ‘busy doing other things’.
He also told journalists he was ‘happy’ that Joe Biden looked like he was going to win the Democratic nomination.
Outside Blair House, the Taoiseach implored people at home in Ireland not to panic buy.
‘First of all there’s no need for any panic buying or panic shopping,’ said Mr Varadkar, ‘We have close cooperation with the retailers, the retail organisations, they assure us that supply chains are strong, and any shelves that are empty this evening will be filled again tomorrow, so people don’t need to gauge and engage in any kind of buy whatsoever.
‘That’s not necessary and that may create a problem that, in fact, doesn’t exist. This is a rapidly developing situation. It is a dynamic situation.
‘We’ll make sure the public are updated every day, through our press conference, introducing such drastic measures of equations.’
Mr Varadkar said he made no apologies for his Government’s drastic actions. He said: ‘The actions that were taken were taken on advice from our public health experts and also from central disease control. I appreciate there are other countries that maybe aren’t taking as drastic actions as us. We’d rather be safe than sorry. It is an issue of human health and human life.
‘We’re putting human life and
‘We’d rather be safe than sorry’
human safety first. And we are advised by our public health doctors, our experts who have been dealing with this issue since December or January.’
Mr Varadkar did not express a preference for continuing as a caretaker Taoiseach, believing that if the Dáil can elect a Government, it should. This suggested that government formation talks will continue.
He said: ‘Well, I think the first step has to be negotiations, involving parties that could form a government. And if we get to the point where we’re able to elect a government in the Dáil, [we should].’