Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern joins Pat to discuss Ireland’s annual St Patrick’s Day engagements in Washington.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said he would have been “a bit more apprehensive” meeting US President Donald Trump this year than he would have been meeting Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.
Speaking on the Pat Kenny Show on Saturday ahead of the Taoiseach’s visit to the White House for St Patrick’s Day on Monday he said the problem was that President Trump “has shown time and time again his ability to off in any tangent or any way.”
He mentionned how even the German chancellor sat in silence for approximately 40 minutes during an official visit as President Trump spoke alone.
“It’s very hard to plan for that,” the former Taoiseach told Newstalk.
“There are issues. The decision this week of easing the sanctions on Russia, just to make sure that America is protected, even though he said they had all the oil that they needed, flies in the face of what European leaders say.
“I don't know if that issue will come up in any way, but you certainly would be tempted to say during the Ukraine session.”
He noted the American decision was “such a disappointment” and a “kick to Ukraine”.
“He doesn’t give a damn”, he said about the current president.
“The one thing he accounts for consistently is the markets. I don't see him continuing on at the level of the war if the markets keep fluctuating this way.
“He's now spent $15 billion in two weeks since it started, this day, two weeks ago.”
Mr Ahern said it was likely Taoiseach Micheal Martin would mainly address Irish issues such as the success of Irish business, the amount of investment we're now putting into the United States, the effect that's having on the economy in the United States and a few European issues with President Trump.
“The difficulty with President Trump is that he plays the tune along with Netanyahu and that won’t do much to help Gaza.
“Even if the Gulf War was to end tomorrow, I think the whole relationships in the area have been badly affected”.
Main Image: Bertie Ahern in the Newstalk studio.
