As Volodymyr Zelensky was politically dismembered on live television, Ireland’s leaders watched, bracing for their own moment of truth. Next in line: Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, heading to the Oval Office for Ireland’s annual diplomatic pageant — St Patrick’s Day.

Trump was already irked by Ireland’s trade surplus and eager to haul U.S. multinationals — many of them filling Dublin’s coffers — back home. And as Zelensky’s treatment made clear, such meetings, once a predictable exchange of pleasantries, had become something else entirely: a test of fealty in front of the cameras, where real-time missteps could carry lasting consequences. And trade was just the first item on the menu of threats.