DUBLIN (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be “fantastic,” wading into a complex and politically charged subject during a weekend visit to a major tournament at his Irish golf course.
At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, Trump said he would love to see the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.
“I don’t want to cause any problems but I’d love to see it unified,” Trump offered when asked for his opinion on the issue by a reporter. “It’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.
“I think it would be a fantastic thing,” he said, adding that “the U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously.”
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The Irish unity debate is heated
Competing visions of Northern Ireland — whether it’s Irish or British — drove decades of violence in Northern Ireland that left some 3,600 people dead. Previous American presidents have avoided commenting directly on the subject, even those, like Joe Biden, with strong emotional ties to Ireland.
When Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbor Britain, became a self-governing Roman Catholic-majority country a century ago, a six-county region in the north with a Protestant majority remained part of the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: nationalists — most of them Catholic — who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists, who wanted to stay British. Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles: three decades of violence involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops.
A 1998 peace accord that the U.S. was instrumental in striking largely ended the violence, but left Northern Ireland’s ultimate status unresolved.
The peace accord allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that “I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one.”
Trump also talked about the Falkland Islands issue
Trump again raised the prospect of conflict between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has recently restated Argentina’s claim to the islands, a British overseas territory that Argentina calls Las Malvinas.
Trump has previously said Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty. On Saturday he expressed skepticism that Britain would be able to retake the South Atlantic islands as they did after Argentina invaded in 1982.
“I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out,” he said.
A meeting with the Irish president who criticized Trump
Trump also held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart Catherine Connolly and will address U.S. and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s official residence in Dublin, before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.
Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019, during his first term in office. She is now Ireland’s elected, largely ceremonial head of state. A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a “bully.”
The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence. They shook hands and chatted before going inside. He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S. national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.
Trump visit irks some Dubliners
Police put up a cordon around Dublin’s 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. He met Martin, the taoiseach, at the government’s Farmleigh state guesthouse and stopped by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador’s residence.
Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption.
“He’s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump. “The world’s in turmoil and this fella’s down playing golf.”
University student Mina Petrovski said Trump’s “attitudes toward women, toward immigrants, toward minority communities in general are abhorrent.” She said it’s “shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.”
Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.
Eric Trump defends family’s presence in Ireland
Trump’s son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite the protests planned over his father’s visit.
Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.
“Go down to Morrissey’s tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we’ve done for the country and what we’ve invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them,” he said.
Trump’s visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.
Trump plays golf just about every weekend at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events — and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.
The Irish Open is the second European Tour event to be held at a Trump property this year. The Nexo Championship was held last month at Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. During that visit, he held talks with the British prime minister and the president of the European Commission.
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