Pat Leahy: Best case scenario is Trump grabs concessions and declares victory. The alternative is far darker

The texts and WhatsApp messages are flying around Government circles later and later these evenings as everyone tunes in at the end of the day in Dublin to what’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic, five hours behind.

It’s worse in Brussels, where you can add another hour to the time difference. As the Eurocrat class is trying to put its weary head down for the night, Donald Trump is only getting warmed up on his Truth Social account, ranting about China, illegal immigrants, the fake news media, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, the European Union (set up, as everyone knows, to screw over the United States) or announcing the latest lurch in his trade policy.

Ignoring Trump is not an option; he is the most powerful man in the world, his decisions have a direct impact both on the everyday lives of billions of people and on relations between states – and he is very keen to use that power for his own objectives. So politicians, Mandarins and Eurocrats all keep checking their phones late at night.

The trouble is, it is sometimes hard to discern what exactly Trump’s political objectives are, ...
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