▲ Trump
Foreign media outlets, including The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP), have reported that US President Donald Trump's remarks calling a united island of Ireland "fantastic" are generating diplomatic controversy.
Whether Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom is a highly sensitive issue in both the UK and Ireland. While the US has maintained neutrality for decades, President Trump's recent comments have widened the fallout.
The controversial remarks came when President Trump met with reporters in Dublin shortly after his meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
President Trump stated, "I don't want to cause trouble, but I'd love to see a united Ireland," adding, "Ultimately, that's going to happen at some point."
During a speech targeting diplomats and business figures at the US Ambassador's Residence in Ireland, he also said, "It would be wonderful if Northern Ireland separated from the UK."
Northern Ireland is one of the four constituent countries of the UK, alongside England, Scotland, and Wales.
Originally, the entire island of Ireland was part of the UK, but following the Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921, Ireland became independent while Northern Ireland remained in the UK.
The US has consistently supported the Belfast Agreement, signed in 1998.
Under this agreement, the constitutional status of Northern Ireland can only be changed through a majority referendum, and reunification of the island also requires the consent of voters in the Republic of Ireland.
Past US presidents have remained neutral on the Northern Ireland issue and avoided direct comments.
President Bill Clinton played a key role in the process of reaching this agreement as a mediator.
President Joe Biden, who is of Irish descent, visited Northern Ireland in 2023 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the agreement while still exercising careful caution.
President Trump's remarks created an even greater fallout because they came right after UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that there was not enough support for a referendum regarding Northern Ireland, adding, "There will be no vote until sufficient support arises."
Criticism of President Trump's remarks poured out from both within and outside Northern Ireland.
Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing UK political party Reform UK, dismissed the remarks on social media, saying, "Northern Ireland is a proud and integral part of the UK," and "The people of Northern Ireland want neither a referendum nor unification."
Gavin Robinson, a member of the UK Parliament and leader of Northern Ireland's largest unionist party, the Democratic Unionist Party, also emphasized, "The constitutional future of Northern Ireland will be decided by the people of Northern Ireland, not by London, Dublin, or Washington."
Meanwhile, President Trump also met with Catherine Connolly, the symbolic head of state of Ireland, on this day.
President Connolly, who during Trump's first term had once called him a "bully," presented him with a gift carrying symbolic meaning.
President Connolly presented a medieval literary collection containing the legend that 6th-century Irish monks crossed the Atlantic to reach Greenland, as well as a poetry collection featuring poems wishing for peace during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The NYT reported that this was interpreted as a subtle jab at Trump's foreign policy, which recently shook Western alliances by floating the idea of acquiring Greenland.
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