USA-NewsblogTrump speaks out in favor of a united Ireland
September 13, 2026, 1:48 am|
The US President has spoken out on the issue of Irish unity. He said he would “very much welcome a united Ireland” and predicted that a united Ireland “will come at some point”.
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Important updates
Trump defends Iran war at 9/11 commemoration
25 years after 9/11 – USA remembers the victims of terror
US Vice Vance remembers dead activist Kirk
US court stops Trump's tightening of postal voting rules
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Newsdesk
Trump is in favor of a united Ireland
US President Donald Trump has spoken out on the issue of Irish unity. He said he would “very much welcome a united Ireland” and predicted that a united Ireland “will come at some point”. He suggested it “might as well happen now” and appeared to see Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin as the one who could help get the process started.
"I have friends on both sides, they are great people. They are Irish, how could that be a bad thing?" Trump said after meeting Martin in Dublin. Addressing Martin, Trump added: “You have the right man here to move this forward.” However, the United Kingdom would also have something to say about it. “But I think it would be a great thing,” Trump said. The statement caused widespread excitement in Ireland and Britain at midday.
Just a little later, during a speech at the ambassador's residence, Trump reiterated his assessment, saying reunification would be a "pretty cool thing." At the same time, he joked that there was no good answer to this question. Every question from the press is designed to get him. “I gave, I think, a nice answer,” Trump said.
The border on the island of Ireland was drawn in 1921 with the entry into force of the “Government of Ireland Act”. Unlike Ireland, which seceded to become an independent republic, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. The question of whether the province should belong or reunite with Ireland led to decades of bloody civil war and continues to divide society today.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin with Donald Trump at Farmleigh House in Dublin. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/dpa
OpenAI boss Sam Altman: IPO no longer this year
ChatGPT developer OpenAI will no longer go public in 2026, according to its boss Sam Altman. Given the current security concerns surrounding artificial intelligence, this would be bad timing, Altman said in an interview with Fortune magazine published Saturday. He particularly referred to the current debate about the dangers of highly developed artificial intelligence. There is still a lot of work to be done to meet safety requirements and figure out how the industry and governments can work together.
The head of OpenAI rival Anthropic, Dario Amodei, had previously called for a more careful approach. The speed at which the capabilities of AI models are improved must be slowed down. Altman agreed on X, saying this has been a major topic at OpenAI in recent weeks. At Anthropic, security concerns have not yet slowed down the IPO plans. According to insiders, the company wants to start marketing its IPO in mid-October at the earliest and complete it before the US congressional elections in November.
ChatGPT sparked the current hype about artificial intelligence several years ago. OpenAI is expected to not only raise tens of billions of dollars when it goes public, but also achieve a very high valuation. The share placement has been planned for some time. For weeks there have been great concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence, which were primarily triggered by hacking attacks by AI software that had become independent in test runs. The debate was fueled in recent days by a researcher from the AI company Anthropic, who resigned with a drastic warning. The major developers of artificial intelligence are acting irresponsibly “and playing with our lives,” said Jacob Coxon.
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Newsdesk
Politics and golf: Trump has arrived in Ireland
Donald Trump flew to Ireland for a two-day visit. It's also about politics - but above all the US President wants to go green. The central reason for the trip is the Irish Open golf tournament, which takes place at Trump's golf resort in Doonbeg, western Ireland. According to Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris, the US President is “very much” looking forward to his golf course on the west coast of Ireland. "He's a man who obviously loves golf and he's very proud of his resort in Doonbeg and is looking forward to going there," Harris told RTÉ after welcoming Trump to the airfield in Dublin this morning for his two-day visit to the Emerald Isle.
Trump was then greeted by Irish President Catherine Connolly in front of her Áras an Uachtaráin residence. The US President traveled accompanied by his son Donald Trump Jr. and his family. Harris said it was the first visit by Trump's grandchildren to Ireland.
A conversation with Prime Minister Micheál Martin and an appearance in front of US embassy employees and business representatives are planned until Sunday evening. On Sunday, Trump wants to watch the final round of the golf tournament.
Irish President Catherine Connolly welcomes Donald Trump upon his arrival for a meeting at Aras an Uachtarain, her official residence in Phoenix Park in Dublin. James Manning/PA Wire/dpa
25 years of 9/11: Pictures of the memorial event
People are gathering in several locations across the United States to commemorate the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Trump defends Iran war at 9/11 commemoration
US President Donald Trump used a commemoration of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to defend the Iran war. "We will never, ever forget. That's why we're fighting today. We have no choice. There can only be victory," said the Republican in his speech at the memorial event at the Pentagon.
Trump added: "We salute the soldiers who are working right now to ensure that the world's leading sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never have a nuclear weapon." Defense Minister Pete Hegseth had previously said in his speech at the commemoration that the world's most important state sponsor of terrorism had been reduced to rubble in the past six months. In fact, the conflict with Iran continues - sometimes more, sometimes less intense.
US President Donald Trump during his speech. Getty Images via AFP
Anna Schimpp
Trump and Musk are pumping millions into Republican election campaigns
There are still just under eight weeks until the US congressional elections. US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are now investing heavily in the Republican election campaign: The two major donors are passing on tens of millions of dollars to political action committees in order to secure the majority in Congress in the vote on November 3rd. Trump says he plans to spend between $400 and $500 million. According to a New York Times report, its affiliated “No Going Back” committee spent $49 million on line items on Tuesday and Wednesday alone.
The focus is on six particularly hotly contested states, including Texas. There, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is in danger of losing to Democrat James Talarico in the race for a seat in the US Senate. Trump's main fundraising committee "MAGA Inc." and Musk's “America PAC” invested ten million or $2.4 million in the election campaign there in the past few days. Around $6.9 million of this goes to negative campaigns against Talarico, who leads polls by an average of 2.1 percentage points.
The Republicans would now have to spend a lot of money to defend additional states, said Republican strategist Brad Dayspring. Trump and Musk's financial resources would enable the party to secure vulnerable mandates without withdrawing funds from other regions.
The No Going Back campaign committee has booked more than $24.9 million in additional advertising time in the six battleground states. According to insiders, the group, which was only registered with the US election authority FEC on September 1st, is said to be financed from Trump's campaign treasury.
According to the authority's rules, the late registration delays the disclosure of donors until October. Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said the new group will help decouple Trump and his MAGA movement from campaign spending as voters become increasingly critical of the president. This is a brilliant strategy because the name is innocuous and does not immediately scare off independent voters. “No Going Back” and “MAGA Inc.” share the same treasurer and the same address. They initially did not comment on the events.
25 years after 9/11 – USA remembers the victims of terror
With minutes of silence, bell tolls and light installations, the USA remembers the victims 25 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The focus of the memorial events will once again be on the places that were attacked at the time: the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington - as well as a field in the US state of Pennsylvania where a plane crashed.
In New York, relatives are expected to read out the names of those killed this morning at the site of the destroyed twin towers of the World Trade Center. Six minutes of silence mark, among other things, the impacts of the two planes and the collapse of the towers. For the first time, a seventh minute of silence will be held for people who later died of illness or injury as a result of the attacks.
Instead of the US President, his deputy J. D. Vance will apparently travel to New York, as several media reported, citing government information. US President Donald Trump is expected at a memorial event at the Pentagon. Trump's plan for the 25th anniversary actually looked different, according to a report in the New York Times. The president planned to go to the memorial service at Ground Zero in Manhattan, the newspaper reported, citing four unnamed people. He had wanted to give a speech. However, for years no speeches have been given by politicians at the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero - today's memorial site at the former location of the Twin Towers. Instead, the organizers deliberately focus on the victims, whose names are read out by relatives over several hours.
Trump dismissed the newspaper's report as false in a lengthy post on Truth Social. He spoke of a made-up story. In addition to the newspaper, the TV station CNN also reported, citing unnamed people, that Trump would forgo the ceremony, which will take place at the World Trade Center, among other things, because he wanted to give a speech on that day.
In the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, almost 3,000 people died when terrorists from the Islamist network al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger planes and piloted two of them into the towers of the World Trade Center. Another plane hit the Pentagon – headquarters of the Defense Department – near Washington.
A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted the hijackers. It is still unclear what the hijackers' goal was with this machine. At the crash site, artists dedicated chalk portraits to the inmates on the anniversary.
Lucia Geier
US Vice Vance remembers dead activist Kirk
One year after the fatal attack on right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk, US Vice President J.D. Vance honored him at the Republican National Convention. "It will go down in history that your father was a great man," Vance said in Dallas, Texas, in remarks addressed to Kirk's children. The crowd then erupted in chants of “Charlie, Charlie.”
The right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead on September 10, 2025 while speaking outdoors on a university campus in the state of Utah. Kirk made a name for himself in conservative circles as a champion of free speech. With his organization Turning Point USA, he visited universities and challenged students - especially those with different political views - to debate. Critics accused him of racist, homophobic, transphobic and sexist views.
As a prominent representative of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, Kirk helped make US President Donald Trump more popular among young voters. He was considered a close confidant not only of Vance, but also of Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Junior. The president's son praised Kirk at the Republican convention as a fighter for "faith, family, freedom and patriotism."
