U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would “love” to see British-run Northern Ireland unify with Ireland, remarks made during a visit to Dublin that drew a sharp response from pro-British unionists in Northern Ireland.
The meetings with Ireland's president and prime minister are not part of an official state visit.
Trump's comments come weeks after new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom was “off the table”, a position Downing Street on Saturday said remained unchanged.
“Well, I don't want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I'd love to see it unified,” Trump told reporters sitting next to Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin after the pair met in Dublin. “It's going to happen eventually ... I think it would be a fantastic thing.”
Trump is making his 48-hour foreign trip as his Republican Party campaigns to keep its majorities in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The Iran conflict has heightened economic concerns among American voters by raising gas prices nationwide.
He was greeted by Ireland's deputy prime minister and foreign minister on the tarmac at Dublin Airport.
Anti-war and anti-Trump protests are planned in Dublin and in western Ireland near the Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg.
U.S.- Ireland ties
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has so far avoided political flaps with the U.S.
“The relationship between Ireland and the United States is very important economically,” Martin told reporters when asked about Trump's weekend trip. “It's very, very significant both ways.”
U.S.-owned companies employ about 10 per cent of workers in Ireland after successive governments prioritised their jobs and corporate tax revenue over decades, handing Ireland the healthiest public finances in Europe in recent years.
In Dublin on Saturday, Irish President Catherine Connolly, elected head of state last year, will have more direct interaction with Trump than she had during his first presidential visit in 2019.
Including Trump, eight sitting U.S. presidents have visited Ireland, starting with John F. Kennedy in 1963. But this trip has some hallmarks of Trump's typical weekends, which often revolve around golf outings at his company's properties.
The Trump Organisation took control in 2014 of the Doonbeg course, which is hosting the Irish Open golf tournament this weekend. Trump is expected to help present the trophy on Sunday to the tournament champion.
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