Last Friday's showdown between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump in the Oval Office will have Irish officials on tenterhooks. Just hours after the Taoiseach accepted an invitation to the St. Patrick's Day shamrock ceremony at The White House, the Ukrainian leader's press conference with the US president turned into a shouting match. While Micheál Martin's visit is unlikely to be as eventful, there remains a number of landmines he will have to avoid on March 12th. They include our trading relationship with the US, Ireland's support for Ukraine and its recognition of Palestine as well as the EU's diverging view on tech regulation. But with a partisan press corps of fringe media outlets and the American culture wars dominating political discourse, journalist, tech entrpreneur and former RTE Washington Correspondent Mark Little says the Taoiseach will have to either "throw red meat to the president, or be the red meat" himself.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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