{"id":622425,"date":"2026-09-12T12:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622425\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T12:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:28:15","slug":"trump-says-hed-like-to-see-a-unified-ireland-as-he-visits-for-golf-at-his-doonbeg-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622425\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says he’d like to see a unified Ireland as he visits for golf at his Doonbeg course"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBLIN (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be \u201cfantastic,\u201d wading into a complex and politically charged subject during a weekend visit to a major tournament at his Irish golf course.<\/a><\/p>\n

At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> in Dublin, Trump said he would love to see the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the U.K.\u2019s Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to cause any problems but I\u2019d love to see it unified,\u201d Trump offered when asked for his opinion on the issue by a reporter. \u201cIt\u2019s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be a fantastic thing,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthe U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irish unity debate is heated<\/p>\n

\"TrumpU.S. President Donald Trump, center, during a review of soldiers from the Guard of Honor during a visit with Ireland\u2019s President Catherine Connolly at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n

Competing visions of Northern Ireland \u2014 whether it\u2019s Irish or British \u2014 drove decades of violence in Northern Ireland that left some 3,600 people dead. Previous American presidents have avoided commenting directly on the subject, even those, like Joe Biden, with strong emotional ties to Ireland.<\/p>\n

When Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbor Britain, became a self-governing Roman Catholic-majority country a century ago, a six-county region in the north with a Protestant majority remained part of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: nationalists \u2014 most of them Catholic \u2014 who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists, who wanted to stay British. Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles: three decades of violence involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops.<\/p>\n

A 1998 peace accord that the U.S. was instrumental in striking largely ended the violence, but left Northern Ireland\u2019s ultimate status unresolved. <\/p>\n

The peace accord allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that \u201cI am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TrumpIreland\u2019s President Catherine Connolly, center left, greets U.S. President Donald Trump, center right, during a meeting at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n

Trump also talked about the Falkland Islands issue<\/p>\n

Trump again raised the prospect of conflict between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Argentina\u2019s President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has recently restated Argentina\u2019s claim to the islands, a British overseas territory that Argentina calls Las Malvinas.<\/p>\n

Trump has previously said Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands\u2019 sovereignty. On Saturday he expressed skepticism that Britain would be able to retake the South Atlantic islands as they did after Argentina invaded in 1982.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I\u2019ll probably be able to settle, settle it out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A meeting with the Irish president who criticized Trump<\/p>\n

\"TrumpU.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he is welcomed by Ireland\u2019s President Catherine Connolly at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.(AP Photo\/Kin Cheung)<\/p>\n

Trump also held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart Catherine Connolly and will address U.S. and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador\u2019s official residence in Dublin, before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open. <\/p>\n

Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019, during his first term in office. She is now Ireland\u2019s elected, largely ceremonial head of state. A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a \u201cbully.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence. They shook hands and chatted before going inside. He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S. national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard. <\/p>\n

Trump visit irks some Dubliners<\/p>\n

Police put up a cordon around Dublin\u2019s 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in. He met Martin, the taoiseach, at the government\u2019s Farmleigh state guesthouse and stopped by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador\u2019s residence. <\/p>\n

\"TrumpU.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting Ireland\u2019s President Catherine Connolly at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in in Dublin, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n

Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,\u201d said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump. \u201cThe world\u2019s in turmoil and this fella\u2019s down playing golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

University student Mina Petrovski said Trump\u2019s \u201cattitudes toward women, toward immigrants, toward minority communities in general are abhorrent.\u201d She said it\u2019s \u201cshameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Eric Trump defends family\u2019s presence in Ireland<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite the protests planned over his father\u2019s visit. <\/p>\n

Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo down to Morrissey\u2019s tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we\u2019ve done for the country and what we\u2019ve invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump plays golf just about every weekend at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events<\/a> \u2014 and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.<\/p>\n

The Irish Open is the second European Tour event to be held at a Trump property this year. The Nexo Championship was held last month at Trump\u2019s golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.<\/p>\n

Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf<\/a> at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course<\/a> in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. During that visit, he held talks with the British prime minister and the president of the European Commission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBLIN (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be \u201cfantastic,\u201d wading into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-622425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}