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As the old saying goes, even the dogs in the street know he was talking nonsense.

Donald Trump rolled out the long-debunked rumour that Haitian immigrants were eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio.

The debate moderator, in serious tone, duly interjected that they’d contacted the “city manager” who had played it down.

It felt like comedy (there was laughter in the spin room) until we were reminded this was the serious matter of who would be the next leader of the free world.

Trump v Harris debate: Live updates and reaction

It wasn’t, perhaps, the best performance by the leader of the Republican Party.

Kamala Harris will be content that she asserted an authority and stage presence that rattled Donald Trump – calling him weak, saying that Vladimir Putin would have him for lunch and saying that people left his rallies out of exhaustion and boredom.

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It was a confrontation that Donald Trump has seldom experienced – in its aggression, disrespect and withering insult.

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Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Harris assailed him on his record and personality in a way that he doesn’t face in interview by journalists, neutral or otherwise.

She employed the structured hostility of the trained prosecutor and it unsettled Trump.

He was, nonetheless, robust in his response.

While she styled herself a president for all Americans, he dismissed her as a worst-ever vice president whose time in the White House had been a failure.

He made a best effort to orientate discussion onto subject areas – immigration, the economy – where he was confident he would score, deploying familiar arguments that will resonate with his support base.

Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Harris was never going to shift that section of the electorate. It is unshakeable through the highs and lows.

She will hope that a confident, assertive performance reaches the middle ground and demonstrates credentials for office and an excuse not to vote Trump.

To win this debate was to leave the viewer believing in one candidate over the other, to emerge with authority and credibility enhanced.

Democrats extolled the Harris performance, while Republicans were insistent that their man carried the day.

Curiously, Donald Trump made an unscheduled appearance in the spin room afterwards and took questions from journalists.

It begged the question: why not let a 90-minute debate performance speak for itself?

It was, perhaps, the action saying a lot of a man who hadn’t said enough.

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Donald Trump says he thinks US will annex Greenland

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Donald Trump says he thinks US will annex Greenland

Donald Trump has said he thinks the US will annex Greenland, days after the country’s incoming prime minister said: “We don’t want to be Americans.”

During an Oval Office meeting with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, the US president was asked about his hopes to annex Greenland.

“I think that will happen,” he said. “I didn’t give it much thought before, but I’m sitting with a man who could be very instrumental.

“You know Mark, we need that for international security. We have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful.”

Donald Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte. Pic: Reuters
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Mr Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte. Pic: Reuters

Mr Trump questioned Denmark’s claim to the autonomous territory, saying Denmark was “very far away” from Greenland despite being part of the country’s kingdom.

“A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. They say they have rights to it,” Mr Trump said. “I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t think it is, actually.”

He said the US already has a military presence in Greenland and added: “Maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers going there.”

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Why Greenland’s election result is a blow to Trump

It comes after Greenland’s centre-right party won an election in a result seen as a rejection of Mr Trump’s interference in the island’s politics.

The Demokraatit party favours a slow move towards independence from Denmark – with its leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen telling Sky News on the eve of the election “we want to build our own country by ourselves”.

In his White House news briefing Mr Trump claimed the election result was very good for the US and said “the person who did the best is a very good person as far as we’re concerned.”

Mr Trump also reacted to Vladimir Putin’s remarks about Russia agreeing to an end in fighting in Ukraine, but adding “lots of questions” remain over proposals for a 30-day ceasefire.

The US president said his Russian counterpart’s statement was not complete and reiterated his willingness to talk to him, adding: “Hopefully Russia will do the right thing.”

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Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns partners not to let Putin ‘deceive’ them on ceasefire

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Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns partners not to let Putin 'deceive' them on ceasefire

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine’s partners to make sure Russia doesn’t “deceive” them over a ceasefire.

After breakthrough talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia, Kyiv said it was ready to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia.

But his nightly address on Wednesday evening, a day after the Jeddah summit, President Zelenskyy said, “we must move toward peace” – but issued a warning to allies.

“The key factor is our partners’ ability to ensure Russia’s readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Because right now, Russian strikes have not stopped.”

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From Tuesday: Ukraine backs ceasefire plan

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The focus has now switched to Vladimir Putin’s response to the proposed ceasefire. President Trump said the US had received “some positive messages” adding: “We have people going to Russia right now”.

However, he warned Moscow: “In a financial sense, yeah we could do things very bad for Russia, would be devastating for Russia.”

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Will Russia go for ceasefire deal?

European defence ministers, meeting in Paris, said now was the time for Moscow to show it was serious about ending the war.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey was among those attending, and had a direct message for Russia’s president: “I say to president Putin, over to you, you want to talk, prove it.”

Mr Healey called on Russia to accept the ceasefire and end the war, adding, “the pressure is now on Putin”.

For his part, President Putin has been playing to his domestic audience with a visit to Kursk, where Russian troops finally seem to be gaining the upper hand against Ukrainian forces who seized territory in the Russian region last year.

The Russian line is approaching Sumy from Kursk Oblast
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The Russian line is approaching Sumy from Kursk Oblast

Dressed in camouflage, the Russian president called for his forces to defeat the enemy and completely liberate Kursk, in remarks reported by the Interfax news agency.

He also said enemy troops captured in the region will be treated as terrorists, as Russia’s chief of the general staff told Mr Putin that Ukrainian forces in the region are surrounded.

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Trump fights trade war on multiple fronts as Canada and EU retaliate

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Trump fights trade war on multiple fronts as Canada and EU retaliate

Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on the EU during a meeting with Irish premier Micheal Martin in the Oval Office.

The US president said he did not want “to do anything to hurt Ireland” but added that the trade relationship between the countries should be focused on “fairness”.

It comes after the president imposed 25% tariffs on global steel and aluminium imports to the US – prompting Canada to announce retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth $29.8bn (£16bn) from tomorrow and the EU to impose counter tariffs on €26bn (£22bn) of US goods from 1 April.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed” to see the president impose global tariffs on steel and aluminium and promised to “keep all options on the table” in how the UK would respond.

During Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Martin, the president raised the “massive” trade imbalance between the two countries and said Ireland was “of course” taking advantage of the US.

He said the EU was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.

Asked by Sky News’ Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy if Ireland was also taking advantage, Mr Trump replied: “Of course they are.”

He added: “I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue.

“All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp.”

Politics latest: Starmer promises to ‘keep options on the table’

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‘They have millions of cars coming in and they don’t accept our cars’

Mr Trump said he loves Ireland, where he has a golf course – but said he wishes the US had “not been so stupid for so many years, not just with Ireland, with everybody”.

Many US pharmaceutical companies have set up their manufacturing facilities in Ireland due to its low 12.5% corporate tax rate.

Irish firms then pay a royalty fee to US parent companies so they can use formulas to make products – meaning Ireland could be the hardest hit EU member by Mr Trump’s 25% tariffs.

‘I would have imposed 200% tariffs’

Mr Trump said if he had been president when those companies started to move to Ireland, he would have imposed a 200% tariff on them so they could not sell anything into the US and they would have “stayed here”.

The president said he would like to see American pharmaceutical companies returning to the US, but expected Mr Martin to “fight on that issue”.

He also told Sky News he would “absolutely” place tariffs on cars from the EU.

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Should UK be worried by Trump tariffs?

Mr Trump accused previous presidents of having “lost big segments” of the US economy and said the EU “treats us very badly”, referencing a recent ruling against Apple.

“They have not been fair. They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money. They sued Apple, won 17 billion US dollars and they use that for other reasons, I guess, to run the European Union,” he said.

“So I’m not knocking it. They’re doing what they should be doing, perhaps for the European Union, but it does create ill will – and as you know, we’re going to be doing reciprocal tariffs so whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them. Nobody can complain about that.”

Michael Martin played a blinder as the first leader in the Oval post-Zelenskyy blood bath

Well, that went well.

An Oval Office meeting that in any other St Patrick’s week would have been regarded as almost unimaginably confrontational – this time around the Irish delegation will be floating on air.

Micheal Martin was in the lion’s den today, the first leader to step into the Oval Office since Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s verbal bloodbath, and you could forgive the Irish PM for being apprehensive.

This was always going to be the most important visit of a taoiseach to the White House in generations. What is usually a jovial green-tinged occasion was this year imbued with a new sense of gravity and nervousness.

The Irish government knew it was in the president’s crosshairs – any small country that boasts a huge trade surplus with the US was bound to be a target for this administration. American figures put that surplus in goods at around €80bn (£67bn) last year, although Irish statisticians insist it was a mere €50bn (£41.9bn) – still a record.

In the Oval, I managed to ask the president if Ireland was taking advantage of America. “Of course they are,” he replied. But Mr Trump is at heart a businessman, and it sounded more like a sneaking admiration.

“I have great respect for Ireland, and what they did,” he said. Ireland did exactly what they should have done, he continued, referencing the luring of lucrative US multinationals. But he placed the blame firmly on “stupid” American leaders who “allowed” it to happen. Mr Martin sat beside him, saying nothing.

The EU was set up to exploit America, Mr Trump said. It was “abuse”. Again and again, it was the Brussels bogeyman, not the Emerald Isle, that bore the brunt of his attack.

I asked if he would respond with more tariffs to the new EU tariffs. “Of course,” Mr Trump responded. After an anecdote about the lack of Chevrolets in Munich, I asked would he now consider tariffs on the crucial European car industry – he replied in the affirmative.

Mr Martin sat beside him, saying nothing.

When the taoiseach did speak, it was to hit the Irish talking points – the Ireland-US relationship was a “two-way street”, with the Irish currently the sixth-largest investor in the US.

“Just look how many Boeings Ryanair is purchasing” was the theme of Mr Martin’s argument.

The leaders joked about Mr Martin’s boxer father. Mr Trump spoke admiringly of Conor McGregor and Rory McIlroy. The minutes ticked away… Ireland unscathed.

They finished with a discussion about the president’s Irish resort at Doonbeg in County Clare. Mr Trump lauded the Irish efficiency at approving an expansion plan, and decried the subsequent EU approval period of several years. Once again – Ireland good, Brussels bad.

There was so much nervousness in Irish government circles. Now they must be wondering what the fuss was all about.

‘Great honour’ to meet Irish Taoiseach

Despite his criticism of Ireland, Mr Trump said it was a “great honour” to have the taoiseach at the White House.

He said the US has “tremendous” business relationships in Ireland “and that will only get stronger”.

Donald Trump with Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin. Pic: Reuters
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Reporters asked questions in the same style as the Zelenskyy meeting. Pic: Reuters

The US leader said his personal relationship with Mr Martin was “very, very strong and very, very good” as he thanked him for coming to Washington DC to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

He added that Mr Martin did not “look nervous” about the subject of tariffs during their meeting.

Taoiseach reminds Trump of Irish investment in US

The taoiseach praised Mr Trump’s work on “peace initiatives” and said the two countries have a “very good relationship, a historic one”.

But, hinting at the tariffs imposed by Mr Trump, Mr Martin said: “It’s a two-way street. We are investing a lot more in America.”

He said he understands where Mr Trump is coming from, but added that Irish companies Ryanair and aircraft leasing firm Aercap “buy more Boeing” planes than anybody else outside the US.

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