
"I would love to see a United Ireland, and that could happen right now." This was the unexpected statement that US President Donald Trump made at the start of his visit to Dublin, where he appeared to support the idea of changing the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and uniting it with the Republic of Ireland.
After meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump said that reunification would be, in his opinion, “a fantastic thing,” although he acknowledged that the UK would have a role in the matter. The comment prompted a strong reaction from the British government and Northern Ireland.
The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Gavin Robinson, opposed the statement, saying that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland should be decided by its own people and not by Washington, London or Dublin.
Under the 1998 Agreement, a referendum on Northern Ireland's secession from the United Kingdom can only be called by the British government. The latter has stated that such a referendum is not currently on the agenda. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom, while the issue of union with the Republic of Ireland continues to be one of the most sensitive political topics on the island.