US President Donald Trump stated during a meeting in Dublin that he would ‘love to see’ a unified Ireland as he prepared a two-day visit to meet with political leaders and visit his golf course.
Breaking a traditional US diplomatic caution by declaring that reunification is inevitable and ‘a fantastic thing’, Trump made the comments during a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Dublin.
Asked about uniting the island, Trump said: ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I’ll tell you I would love to see a unified Ireland.’
He continued: ‘I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.
‘You know how I see it, it’s going to happen eventually; it may as well happen now… I think it would be a fantastic thing.
‘Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously, but I think it would be a great thing.’
The President added that the Irish have ‘been great friends of America’ and said the relationship between the two countries is ‘fantastic’.
He added that the business people in the room are among the most ‘successful people in the world’, saying that he is pleased Ireland is now the sixth largest source of foreign direct investment in the US.
‘Congratulations on your genius,’ he says.
It comes after he told the UK to open up oil and gas fields in the North Sea after being questioned about people in Ireland paying 40 per cent more for home heating oil than before the start of the war with Iran.
