Unlike his still mysterious chat with Vladimir Putin, President Trump’s sit down with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Shannon Airport is likely to make it into the public record.
More or less at any rate.
Trump and Varadkar will be meeting for talks for the third time so they know each other’s form. Unlike the other two encounters, this one will see Varadkar playing the host.
The meeting will occur amid all the angst and uproar over Brexit and the future of Europe.
Varadkar and his government are staunchly pro-EU. Trump and his administration not so much. Indeed, another who once held the Finnish equivalent of Varadkar’s job, Jyrki Katainen, now vice president of the European Commission, told CNBC that "countries like Russia, China but also the United States, have challenged us harder than before.
“We are [for the] first time in the history in a situation where the president of the United States and [the] president of Russia seem to share the same view on Europe: the weaker, the better, because they think that it’s better for their own country, which is obviously not right.”
The report described the current U.S. relationship with Europe as being “tenuous” since Trump's election.
When he chats with Varadkar, the president will have just departed Britain after a three days state visit. A Britain in turmoil over Brexit, a Britain heading for the EU exit door, a Britain looking less “Great” by the minute.
If Mr. Trump indicates that he sees it differently it will be a moment for Mr. Varadkar to remind the President of the United States the value of the words “united” and “union.”
Either way, it us to be hoped that the conversation between the two leaders is both purposeful and productive.
