During a joint press conference at the White House with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, a reporter noted that the Irish president had condemned Trump’s war against Iran as illegal. Trump’s first response was to ask who said it.
His second, after being told it was the Irish president, was to say: “Look, he’s lucky I exist.” Ireland’s president is not a he. President Catherine Connolly is a woman. Martin, sitting inches away, said nothing.
When asked about President Catherine Connolly saying the US & Israeli actions in Iran were a “deliberate assault on international law”.
“Look, he’s lucky I exist. That’s all I can say,” – President Donald Trump #Whitehouse #PaddysDay #Taoiseach #Spineless #MichéalMartin pic.twitter.com/itaL9nY6Y9
— Mick Caul (@caulmick) March 17, 2026
The visit was already complicated before that moment. Martin had arrived in Washington under pressure from Irish politicians to push back on the Iran war, yet spent the first 20 minutes largely silent as Trump held court on his usual list of grievances. The St. Patrick’s Day White House visit is a tradition going back nearly five decades. It has rarely been this uncomfortable.
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Connolly had not been subtle about where Ireland stood.
Earlier this month, she called the war a direct assault on international law. “What we have witnessed in recent days in the Middle East are not political disputes,” she said. “They are deliberate assaults on international law, the international laws that have underpinned global peace for eighty years.”
Ireland has form on this. It joined South Africa’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, and has taken a similarly firm line on Iran. None of this was new or surprising. What was surprising was watching the leader of a friendly nation sit in silence while his head of state was misgendered and dismissed in the same sentence.
Martin did eventually speak. He pushed back quietly on Trump’s portrayal of Europe, defended UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and told Trump he was “a very earnest, sound person that you have a capacity to get on with.” It was measured. Back home, it was not enough.
“The Taoiseach remained almost entirely mute as Trump went on a tirade, spreading disinformation to defend his illegal war in Iran,” said Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns. She noted that at one point Martin told Trump he was “doing his bit” for peace in the Middle East.
The economics help explain Martin’s restraint. Most of Ireland’s $35 billion in annual corporate tax revenue comes from American companies, including Apple, Microsoft, and Eli Lilly. Ireland may be more exposed to American capital than any other country in Europe. Walking into that room and picking a fight was never really an option.
Featured image via X screengrab
