Trump makes us walk a diplomatic tightrope
IF week is a long time in politics then the next three weeks will be an eternity for the Government as it tries to figure out how to handle the Donald Trump visit. Snubbing a potential US president while he conducts a naked grab for Irish-American votes might risk political and economic suicide, not to mention being the death knell of the delicate peace process where US input has long been a steadying influence.
Like most bullies who thrive on giving offence, Trump is notoriously thinskinned. He might not be prepared to excuse a less-than-heartfelt reception from Ireland of the Welcomes.
On the other hand, dancing attendance on the Republican candidate reads very much like an endorsement of his vile and offensive views, and the hatred he peddles for anyone who isn’t born into his world of white male privilege. What is a Government to do? It would have some hope of downplaying the visit or even ignoring it, if the billionaire tycoon hadn’t been hailed as a conquering hero the last time he called.
Rolling out the red carpet was cringe-inducing then, as was dispatching Finance Minister Michael Noonan to bow and scrape before the swaggering hotelier who most of the country only knew from reality TV.
But it seems downright foolhardy at this time, potentially creating a hostage to fortune.
To be fair, the Government had no way of knowing that Trump was to become about as popular as Hannibal Lecter on this side of the ocean.
Even those familiar with the real Donald Trump, who despised his rancid views, justified making a fool of ourselves on the basis that an economy on its knees couldn’t afford to be choosy about the company it kept.
But Trump is no longer just a bragging buffoon whose deep pockets might come in handy for Irish tourism interests or in bringing more business to the Wild Atlantic Way.
His next visit asks us to risk far more than national self-respect.
Enda Kenny has condemned his comments as both ‘racist and dangerous’, and that is surely a barometer of how far Trump’s reputation has sunk in the court of public opinion. He is a deeply divisive public figures who is poised to become the leader of the free world because he has cynically conned Americans into believing that their money worries and security fears can be solved by a ban on Muslims entering their country or by building a wall along the Mexican border.
He tries to win arguments by shouting insults, by jeering at adversaries in the cruellest fashion, rather than deploying logic and reason.
HE whips up distrust and fear, reviving for public consumption a stream of racist, sexist and xenophobic views whose outward expression had gradually disappeared from decent society over the decades. The US’s commitment to free speech gives Trump a pass to promote views of such outrageous intolerance that if uttered in this country against a minority would deserve prosecution under our incitement to hatred legislation.
Should an Irish broadcaster decide to mark his visit to our shores with an armchair interview, they might have to warn him of the legal restrictions that pertain to vulgar prejudice.
In broadcast terms, he is potentially a minefield, but he’s also a political minefield.
We don’t want to turn Donald Trump into a Friend of Ireland because, to paraphrase the famous adage, with friends like Donald Trump who needs enemies?
However, we can’t afford to make an enemy out of him either.
The Government will have to walk a tightrope between reflecting the country’s view of Trump’s campaign while causing minimum provocation to the hot-headed demagogue.
It’s a measure of Trump’s power and global status that his visit is liable to cause such a diplomatic headache. What will it be like if he gets his hands on real power after the elections in November?
One shudders to think of it.