'I'd love to see it unified': Trump weighs in on Ireland's constitutional future

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump unexpectedly weighed in on Ireland’s constitutional future on Saturday, September 12, saying he would “love to see it unified” and that unification “may as well happen now.”

A united Ireland would mean Northern Ireland joining the Republic of Ireland, a change Trump called “fantastic” despite the UK’s role.

Trump made the comments at a joint news conference with Irish PM (Taoiseach) Micheál Martin in Dublin, opening his two-day visit.

Trump makes unification call in Dublin

“I don’t want ⁠to cause any problems, but I’d love to see it unified,” Trump said. “I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. You know what? The way I look at it, it’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.”

Trump said the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland would be “fantastic,” while acknowledging that the UK would have a say.

“The UK will have something to say about it, obviously,” Trump said. “But I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”

He later acknowledged that his remarks would be controversial, saying: “No matter what you say or how you say it, there’s no good answer. I gave a nice answer, I think. We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

Trump added that unification would be a “very cool thing.”

UK and Northern Ireland leaders push back

The comments prompted an immediate response from the UK government and Northern Ireland’s unionist leaders, as per the Guardian.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Prime Minister Andy Burnham still believed there was not enough support for unification to trigger a referendum under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the outlet reported.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson rejected Trump’s intervention, saying Northern Ireland’s constitutional future should be decided by its people rather than political commentary elsewhere.

“Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom because that is the settled democratic will of its people,” Robinson said. He added that he was confident Northern Ireland would continue to choose the UK and its security.

Robinson also said: “As unionists we are not interested in the destruction of our country by joining with the Irish republic.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also criticized Trump’s comments, linking them to his previous remarks about Greenland and Canada becoming the 51st state, the report stated.

“President Trump is shooting from the hip as usual,” Badenoch said. “This sort of loose talk about the future of democratic countries is deeply unhelpful and creates unnecessary tension.”

President Trump's remarks came during his Ireland visit

The intervention came two weeks after UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a referendum on unification was “off the table,” a position that angered Irish republican and Democratic Socialist political party, Sinn Féin, and other Irish nationalists.

Trump’s visit began with a courtesy call to Irish President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin, followed by a separate meeting with Martin in Phoenix Park.

In a statement afterward, Connolly said she had “conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted” and stressed the importance of the United Nations, as per the report.

Trump said his discussion with Connolly covered energy and water and called her “terrific.”

Trump flew Saturday afternoon to his resort in Doonbeg, County Clare, which was hosting the Irish Open. 

He was expected to present the trophy before returning to Washington Sunday.