Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Pat Kenny he thought Micheal Martin did very well during his meeting with US President Trump during the Shamrock ceremony in Washington DC.
Leo Varadkar told Pat Kenny Micheál Martin handled the meeting with President Trump at the White House well during the annual St Patrick's Day festivities.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show Saturday he discussed his Sunday Times column in which he indirectly advised Taoiseach Micheál Martin on his St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.
Leo Varadkar stepped down as Taoiseach in March 2024, leaving politics at a relatively young age and at a time of significant global uncertainty.
With conflict escalating in Iran, evolving Irish–US relations, and a new chapter in his own life underway, he joined Pat Kenny to reflect on leadership, legacy, and what comes next.
“What I mostly did in that column was sort of describe my own experience of having been there and how it works.
“I kind of concluded with the key point, which is really he's the only one there at the moment who can judge how to handle it correctly.”
He said the US President was “older, angrier and more bitter”.
“The checks and balances and guardrails that were there before are gone.
“During his first administration, he was surrounded by a lot of traditional Republicans and cabinet members who I think are the so-called adults. These officials are now gone from all the different government departments.”
“That is worrying. During his first term, the Pentagon and the Supreme Court were not as on his side as the current establishment is.
Mr Varadkar told The Pat Kenny Show he was worried about the health of America’s democracy.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin with US President Donald Trump. Picture by: Tasos Katopodis.“The checks and balances are supposed to work. Congress, the Supreme Court, they're not working so well at the moment.
“The midterm elections coming up in November will be very significant as to whether the Democrats can take back the House and maybe even the Senate.
“[The President] is much worse now than he was then so would have to be a little bit worried that the elections in November, if they happen, are free and fair.”
Leo Varadkar on life after office
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Pat Kenny he was the type of person who would always be busy.
Speaking on Newstalk, the former Taoiseach, who now resides in Boston, Massachusetts, said he was “more in control of his own diary” now.
“The worst day in government is the best day you have when you're out of government”, he said.
“I loved [being in Government], I was nearly 20 years in the Dail and 13 years at the cabinet table. It wasn’t a short innings but it was all consuming.
“There's very little space or time for anything else. I'm liking now the fact that for the first time in a very long time, I'm not really responsible for anyone else. I'm not accountable to anyone else.”
He said he was still “busy but never crazy busy anymore”.
“I am doing lots of lots of different things. I publish paperback versions of my memoir during the summer and do some teaching over in the US, in Harvard and Notre Dame, which is a lot of fun.
I serve on a couple of boards, and do a bit of consulting.”
He said leaving political life awarded him a personal and intellectual freedom he really liked.
Main Image: Leo Varadkar and Pat Kenny in Newstalk.
