Trump: I’d love to see a unified Ireland
Trump has weighed in on the question of Irish unity, saying he would “love to see it unified” and predicting that a united Ireland is “going to happen eventually”.
He suggested it “may as well happen now” and appeared to cast Micheál Martin as the person to help make it happen.
He said:
Well, I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you I’d love to see it unified.
I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right?
I’d love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.
You know what? The way I look at it, it’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.
We’re talking about it and you got the right man over here to get it moving.
But, yeah, I think it would be a fantastic thing.
Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”
Key events
Trump says Ireland unity ‘would be cool’
Trump has joked about his earlier remarks about Ireland unity (see post at 11:11).
During his speech at Deerfield, he said there was “no good answer” to the unification question, adding: “No matter what you say, no matter how well you say it.”
He then reiterated his view that unification “would be cool”.
Trump is now at Deerfield, the US ambassador’s official residence, where he is expected to deliver a speech to guests.
The Irish Times reports that a spokesperson for Micheál Martin was asked if Donald’s Trump’s comments about a unified Ireland would have any impact on government policy.
They said: “No, our Good Friday agreement and programme for government commitments remain.”
Trump repeated that the Middle East crisis is “gonna work out fine and dandy”.
Trump says he could settle Falklands row
Trump has also been asked about the Falkland Islands. In his meandering response, he questioned whether Britain would be willing to travel such a distance to defend the islands and said he could be called upon to help resolve the row between the UK and Argentina.
His comments came as the Argentinian president Javier Milei claimed the “winds of change” are blowing in Argentina’s favour, pointing to suggestions that Trump may be reconsidering the US position on sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The remarks drew the ire of UK ministers, who swiftly pushed back any suggestion that Britain’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands was up for discussion.
Trump said:
Well, the Falkland Islands is very interesting because here we go again.
I remember as a young boy, a pretty young boy anyway, but the Falkland Islands, and I think it was a different country at that time, the UK a little bit, but they went in and they took it over.
I’m not sure they’re doing that. They have a little problem with immigration.
They have a little problem with energy and then have some other problems they have to take care of.
So, I don’t know. You know, I don’t know if they’re going to be willing to travel that far.
That is very far away. You’re talking about weeks by boat. I don’t know.
I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out.
But right now, you have two countries that are not happy concerning the Falklands.”
Houthis asked US not to intervene, Trump says
Trump claimed the Houthi group had asked the US not to intervene after it seized an island in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital maritime route that carries around 12% of global trade.
“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump told reporters.
“They don’t want us to go after them.”
Trump said the conflict in Gaza was all but over after he “put out the fires”, and that Iran was two weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon when the US and Israel began the war in February.
“If they had it they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East,” he said, adding that Europe would have been a target too.
Trump: I’d love to see a unified Ireland
Trump has weighed in on the question of Irish unity, saying he would “love to see it unified” and predicting that a united Ireland is “going to happen eventually”.
He suggested it “may as well happen now” and appeared to cast Micheál Martin as the person to help make it happen.
He said:
Well, I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you I’d love to see it unified.
I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right?
I’d love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.
You know what? The way I look at it, it’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.
We’re talking about it and you got the right man over here to get it moving.
But, yeah, I think it would be a fantastic thing.
Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”
Trump and Martin are now speaking to reporters at the Farmleigh estate.
Commenting on the Saudi pipeline attack, Trump said he believed Iran may have been responsible for the drone strike. “I think they are, probably they are.”
Saudi authorities said drones launched from Iraq had forced the temporary closure of a key oil export route, which has become increasingly important as an alternative to the strait of Hormuz.
The East-West pipeline runs from Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Riyadh has stepped up its use of the pipeline since the start of the Middle East war as the route allows Saudi oil to reach global markets without passing through the Hormuz strait, which has been effectively closed by Iran.
Trump: Iran war will end after US midterm elections
Trump said he believed the war with Iran will end after US midterm elections in November and that oil prices will tumble once it does, Reuters reports.
“I think very soon. I think it’ll be probably right after the mid-terms. They’re trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it,” he told reporters in Dublin.
“When that happens, oil prices will come tumbling down.”
