Like a circus: All eyes on Donald Trump at UN General Assembly
US president Donald Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York. (Picture: Evan Vucci/ AP
With Donald Trump, comes the circus.
Part of it is the office, part of it is the inhabitant, but wherever the billionaire businessman-turned-US president goes, there is inevitably a large number of people, vehicles and eyes, as well as no fewer number of talking points.
In New York on Tuesday, the Trump Effect was in evidence.
The media tent, set out on the lawn of the UN's ground, was packed from the early hours, a stark contrast with Monday's attendance.
Perhaps the world's media had received the same briefing as Ireland's to ensure you're on the right side of the street before the presidential motorcade arrives.
Judge that wrong, as this writer did last year, and you'll be held on the opposite side of the road for up to 40 minutes.
But Mr Trump's first UN address for six years was an attraction in and of itself.
Even if you weren't getting near the building, you knew something was coming.
Mr Trump's speech hadn't been spun much at all heading into Tuesday, leading to a palpable sense that he could say literally anything.
At 10am, the General Assembly was officially opened by Brazil's Lula da Silva — Brazil opens the assembly every year as part of a tradition which saw it break the silence at assemblies dating back to 1955 — who took some indirect swipes at the Trump administration.
With the traditional opening done, it was the turn of the host nation to speak. It was Donald Time.
Any seasoned observer of Mr Trump will know that it's not possible to predict where his speeches will begin or end up, his penchant for segue being so high.
But what followed on Tuesday morning on the banks of the East River was particularly scattergun and scathing.
Put two and two together, he implied and implored.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc, as Martin Sheen's version of the US president in might caution — after it therefore because of it.
The president's critiques extended to the UN itself, citing a grievance over a broken escalator and his teleprompter cutting out.
Perhaps more revealingly, he spoke of how he had bid to redevelop the site but had been overlooked, despite promising marble flooring.
He criticised the UN for "creating" an issue around "uncontrolled migration", a subject he spent much time on, saying that Europe was "going to hell" because of the issue, before railing against the "con-job" of climate science.
Outside on the river walk, Taoiseach Micheál Martin strained to walk the line between not agreeing with Mr Trump and not being seen to pick a fight with him either.
Coming after Mr Trump had also claimed his administration had "solved" the issue of autism by linking it to pain medications in pregnancy, both Taoiseach and Tánaiste Simon Harris tested every muscle of Irish diplomacy not to speak ill of the man who, in his own words, had solved so much in just seven months.
