‘Daddy’ Trump meets Nato, while defence, trade and Gaza dominate EU summit

Pat Leahy and Cormac McQuinn join Jack Horgan-Jones to look back on the week in politics:

·       US President Donald Trump was the main attraction at a landmark Nato summit on Wednesday with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte calling him ‘Daddy’ during their press conference. Trump got what he came for with Nato member states agreeing to an increase of 5 per cent of GDP in defence spending.

·       Over at the EU leaders summit on Thursday, defence spending was also high on the agenda with Ireland backing the EU’s €150bn defence plan. The war in Gaza was highlighted too with Taoiseach Micheál Martin unable to comprehend how Europe doesn’t seem capable of putting any pressure on Israel to stop it. And with Trump’s tariffs pause set to end on July 9th, Ireland and other EU countries will be forgiven for looking at India and China as greater trading partners.

·       Do policy interventions like reviewing RPZs compensate for the delayed release of the Government’s housing plan? The document won’t be published until after the summer.

·       Presidential candidates are still pretty thin on the ground with Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly saying he “could do a lot” as president but stopped short of declaring he actually will enter the race.

Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:

·       The endurance test that Irish concert-goers have to go through is worth it, Democratic mayoral primary Zohran Mamdani shocks as New York swelters, and Jaws and its Irish connection.

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