But the first question asked of Mr Trump from the travelling Irish contingent during a 51-minute press conference was about another matter that has not really grabbed the attention.

“I haven’t heard that, I really haven’t heard that," was Mr Trump's answer when asked by a reporter from UTV if he was disappointed that a number of Northern Irish parties had declined invites to the White House.

Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance had ruled out attending such events in response to Mr Trump's position on Gaza, but it appeared not to trouble the US president that those parties would not be at the Shamrock Ceremony in the East Room of the White House later that day. 

That event is usually attended by a few hundred people and it is likely that Mr Trump is not au fait with the details, but will Sinn Féin have any concern that their protest had fallen on deaf ears? That depends on who you believe that the party is appealing to - Irish voters or the American president?

In a piece for the Irish Times when the boycott was announced, the party's former deputy head of press Siobhán Fenton wrote about it being part "strategic positioning". There was, she said, a concerted effort on the behalf of Sinn Féin to put water between itself and the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government.

"(In the South) the boycott is part of an increasingly aggressive approach to put clear water between Sinn Féin and the Government parties – a bid to shed its 'government in waiting' tag, which undermined its electoral performance in the 2024 general election," Ms Fenton wrote.

To that end, being dismissed by Donald Trump is not the worst thing in the world. While it does imply that the boycott didn't register at the highest levels, it does also allow the party show that it is set apart from Fianna Fáil. 

The party has seized on Mr Martin's laughing response to Mr Trump's answer to a question on Ireland's housing crisis.

Sinn Féin's position

The message is clear: here is a government that is pally with Donald Trump who has advocated the redevelopment of Gaza as a holiday resort. Sinn Féin didn't even get on the plane.

Asked on Thursday about the president's comments, Pearse Doherty was characteristically unfussed.

"We made our position clear in relation to the White House, and given what Donald Trump has argued for, particularly in terms of Gaza and the displacement of people in Gaza and to turn it into some type of fancy resort.

"I heard his comments yesterday. I heard his comments last week as well, when he wasn't aware that he called Zelenskyy a dictator. So we take what Trump says with a pinch of salt," Mr Doherty said.

But the follow-up from the Sinn Féin deputy leader was more interesting as he underscored why Sinn Féin had boycotted.

"The reality is that the issues of Gaza and Palestine probably didn't get the airing that they should have got yesterday. I think that Micheál Martin should have asserted the Irish position in a far clearer way," Mr Doherty said, allowing his party to frame the Taoiseach's trip as a net negative.

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly, meanwhile, said that there was a positive spin that could be put on the boycott of her First Minister Michelle O'Neill.

'Confidence'

The DUP politician said the Sinn Féin boycott of the White House "shows a confidence in our Executive". “I think it demonstrates that the Executive is actually working well together.

“I believe I’m a very strong voice for Northern Ireland. I’m not shy about putting forward our case and making sure that we do get into those rooms, and we are saying everything that is fantastic about our wonderful place we call home.”

It is a purposefully optimistic spin, but one that does allow Sinn Féin to get the domestic benefit of a boycott while ensuring that the North's government is represented on the biggest stage. It's not quite having your cake and eating it, but it's not a million miles off.