TRUMP SAYS HE WOULD 'LOVE' TO SEE UNITED IRELAND

Donald Trump said he would "love" to see a united Ireland and that unification "may as well happen now", speaking at a joint press conference with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Dublin on Saturday. Trump described Irish unification as "fantastic" and "a great thing", stating that he believed it would occur eventually. He acknowledged his comments would prove controversial, saying "there's no good answer" to the question of unification.

The US president's remarks came in response to a reporter's question during the opening of a two-day visit to Ireland. Trump noted that the United Kingdom would have a position on the matter but questioned how unification could be negative. His intervention represented an unexpected endorsement of constitutional change on the island, departing from typical diplomatic protocol on internal UK matters.

The UK government and Northern Ireland's unionist leadership swiftly rejected Trump's position. A Downing Street spokesperson stated the Prime Minister believed there remained insufficient support for unification to trigger a referendum under the Good Friday agreement framework. Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, asserted that Northern Ireland's constitutional future would be decided by its people alone, not by commentary from London, Dublin or Washington, and expressed confidence that Northern Ireland would continue to choose to remain part of the United Kingdom.