Trump says he would like to see Northern Ireland reunited with Ireland, sparking backlash from pro-British factions

When U.S. President Trump visited Ireland on the 12th, he said that he was "happy" to see Northern Ireland, currently ruled by the United Kingdom, unify with Ireland and expected that this would "eventually happen." He said three times that it would be "great." The remarks triggered a backlash from pro-British factions in Northern Ireland.

"Reuters" reported on the 12th that Trump told reporters after a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, "I don't want to create any problems, but I tell you, I would love to see it unified" and, "It will happen eventually... and I think that will be a great thing."

Trump's remarks came just weeks after new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that a referendum on Northern Ireland's secession from the United Kingdom was "not under consideration." Downing Street also said on the 12th that the British government's position has not changed.

Trump mentioned in his speech on the 12th that "now Britain will have something to say about this matter", but he went on to say that "there is no good answer" to the issue of Irish reunification, but he believed that reunification "would be a great thing."

According to the "Good Friday Agreement" signed in 1998 by the British government, the Irish government and the parties in Northern Ireland on Northern Ireland's status and relations with Ireland and the United Kingdom, whether to hold a referendum on Northern Ireland's separation from the United Kingdom can only be decided by the British government. The agreement ended 30 years of violent conflict between Irish nationalists and unionists who advocated keeping Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom.

Although polls show that the majority of Northern Irish people support remaining in the United Kingdom, after the United Kingdom left the European Union, the issue of reunification has returned to the political focus, and the gap between the support and opposition camps has narrowed slightly.

Gavin Robinson, leader of Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party, the Democratic Unionist Party, rejected Trump's prediction, saying unification would lead to "the destruction of our country." Robinson, who has publicly supported Trump in the past, wrote that Northern Ireland's constitutional future "will be determined by the people of Northern Ireland, not by the comments of London, Dublin or Washington."

Successive US presidents, including Joe Biden and others with strong Irish ancestry, have always been cautious on the issue of Irish reunification and maintained a neutral stance. The United States played an important role in brokering the 1998 peace agreement.