PM Andy Burnham has ruled out a referendum on Irish unification – but Trump said reuniting Ireland would be a “great thing…how can it be bad?”
Donald Trump fired twin torpedoes into the Special Relationship this morning, by calling for a united Ireland and questioning Britain’s commitment to the Falkland Islands.
The US President is visiting Dublin this weekend to watch the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club.
But before heading to the tournament, he met with Irish PM Micheal Martin and took questions from the media.
Asked about the future of Ireland, he said: “I don’t want to cause any problems but I will tell you I’d love to see it unified.”
He went on: “I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people – how can they be bad, right? I’d love to see it unified. It would be great. A great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened.
“It’s gonna happen eventually. It may as well happen now. You have the right man over here to make it happen.
“Now, the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it’d be a great thing. How can it be bad?”
PM Andy Burnham has ruled out a referendum on Irish unification. During his first official visit to Northern Ireland last week, Mr Burnham said the Brexit and Scottish independence polls showed the “risks that come from those situations take a long time to heal”.
Asked about his meeting with Irish President Catherine Connolly, Trump said: “We did discuss Northern Ireland…I find it a very interesting discussion. Because we know people of Northern Ireland and we know people of Ireland and I sometimes say ‘hey, when are you guys getting together?’. I do ask that question every time. I’m sure it’s complicated, but life is complicated.”
And he was asked about his conversation with Andy Burnham this week, and what he would do if his ally Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, invaded the Falkland Islands.
Trump appeared to suggest Britain would be reluctant to defend the islands because they take a long time to get to by boat.
“I think it was a different country [in 1982] at that time the UK a little bit, when they [Argentina] went in and took it over,” Trump said.
“I don’t know if they’d [the UK] be willing to travel that far. It is very far away. You’re talking about weeks by boat.
“I’m sure I’ll be called in to that potential disaster, but if they do I’ll probably be able to settle it out. But right now you have two countries that are not happy.”
The Falklands are considerably better defended now than they were in 1982. There are more than 1,000 troops, aircraft and a Royal Navy vessel now defending the Islands.