The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Saturday that he would “love” the unification of Ireland, emphasizing that the United Kingdom would have “something to say” but stressed that it would be “something fantastic.”
“I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I’ll tell you that I would love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides, great people. They are Irish. I would love to see it unified,” he said in statements alongside Irish Prime Minister Michéal Martin, during his two-day visit to the country.
“They have the right man here to get it going, but yes, I think it would be something fantastic,” he added, pointing to Martin, in response to journalists’ questions.
Trump acknowledged that the United Kingdom “will have something to say about it,” referring to Northern Ireland, a territory that belongs to the United Kingdom. “But I think it would be great. I mean, how could it be bad?” he emphasized from Ireland, where he traveled for a two-day visit, mainly to follow a golf tournament.
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Later, in statements from the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, the U.S. president joked that it is a question where “no matter what you say, there is no good answer” and noted that the “great” answer he gave will be read in tomorrow’s newspapers. However, he reiterated that the unification of the island “would be great.”
The armed conflict in Northern Ireland between unionists who advocate maintaining ties with the United Kingdom and Irish nationalists who call for unifying Ireland lasted almost 30 years until the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreements, leaving more than 3,500 dead.
Although tensions between both communities continue today, these agreements established a political framework to resolve the issue under an autonomous regime under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
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