In early June, US President Donald Trump will visit Britain and Ireland. The Tories and the snivelling Fine Gael government in the South, along with the DUP in the North, are setting out the red carpet for the right-wing oaf. The Trump administration is killing asylum seekers at the border, threatening war with Iran and shoring up the apparatus of the American police state.
While Mr Trump’s administration has been caging thousands of immigrant children, Taoiseach (Southern Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar – a darling of pro-capitalist liberals – has befriended the US President. He has previously claimed Trump is “making America great again”, while waxing about the US’ commitment to “liberty”. The total spinelessness of Fine Gael is on full display, shattering the “progressive” veneer they today attempt to put on. Trump is facilitating a massive attack on abortion rights in the US, restricting abortion almost as strictly as the laws in Northern Ireland. It is frankly insulting to see our so-called “progressives” cosy up to Trump just one year after the massive revolt of women, and young and working class people, for abortion rights in the South.
Irish capitalism in thrall to US capitalism
It is no surprise that Fine Gael are so willing to kiss Trump’s boots. Ireland’s criminally low corporation tax has made the country a haven for US corporations. Foreign multinationals shifted $106 billion of corporate profits to Ireland in 2015. While Irish workers languish under a barrage of cuts, and cry out for the building of public housing in the midst of a homelessness crisis, some of the world’s largest corporations like Google, Apple and Pfizer are getting tax breaks. Trump himself has gotten in on the action, having bought the Doonbeg golf resort he’ll be staying at for €15 million.
Trump has tried to present himself as an anti-establishment figure, but he represents capitalism’s descent into right-wing and far-right reaction, the horrific spawn of the global capitalist crisis. His politics are designed to divide the working-class and increase oppression, repressing wages and attacking rights. He has fought even the tepid reforms of Obama’s Affordable Care Act, denying basic healthcare for workers. He openly attacks trade unions. Trump is representative of a system intent on exploiting all possible sources of profit at the expense of working-class people.
Protests have been called against Trump’s visit in Belfast and Dublin… Join the protests to stand in solidarity with the people of Yemen and Syria, suffering because of US imperialist foreign policy, and the people of Iran, threatened by Trump’s militarism. Stand with the women of Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi, who have been stripped of their rights. Show we oppose Trump and the imperialist, capitalist system he represents.
