My snub of the green for daring to ask about war

PRESS conferences with President Donald Trump are always unpredictable and he's no stranger to calling out reporters - but I didn't think I would be one of them.

- BY CIARA O'LOUGHLIN

'SURREAL' Ciara O'Loughlin at the White House in US

After asking him his thoughts on Irish President Catherine Connolly calling out attacks on the Middle East as a breach of international law, he completely snubbed me.

The animated president asked me to repeat what I said, but then decided to wave me off and move on, as he said: "You're speaking right into your phone."

Not a good time for the softly spoken Irish accent.

While I have watched many of the St Patrick's Day Oval Office press conferences over the years, it was incredibly surreal to be there in the flesh - and it's even more chaotic than I could have imagined.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin's meeting with the US President was delayed by an hour, leaving the media to huddle together in a warm room for longer than expected.

And it's a literal race to get the best spot close to the President, with it not being a time for niceties.