‘A pinch of salt’: Sinn Féin on Donald Trump’s reaction to Gaza boycott

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

A Sinn Féin TD has said Donald Trump’s claim that he was not aware of the party’s White House boycott over Gaza should be taken with “a pinch of salt”.

The US president said he had not heard that some Northern Ireland political parties had decided to boycott St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington DC over his administration’s stance on Gaza.

Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance had ruled out attending such events.

Asked about the boycotts while meeting Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr Trump told reporters: “I haven’t heard that, I really haven’t heard that.”

Asked about the comments, Mr Doherty said: “We made our decision clear in relation to the White House, and given what Donald Trump has argued for, particularly in terms of Gaza and the displacement of people in Gaza and to turn it into some type of fanciful resort.

“I heard his comments yesterday. I heard his comments last week as well, when he wasn’t aware that he called Zelensky a dictator.

“So we take what Trump says with a pinch of salt.

“But look, the reality is that the issues of Gaza and Palestine probably didn’t get the airing that they should have got yesterday.

“I think that Micheál Martin should have asserted the Irish position in a far clearer way.

“Unfortunately, it appears that the media part of it, or the public part of it, was the main part of the visit. The private part seemed to be curtailed.

“So I think that that was a missed opportunity for the Taoiseach to assert Ireland’s position in relation to what is happening in Palestine and indeed the occupied territories.”