Trump's Dublin Visit Draws Protests After Reunification Remark
Trump met Ireland's prime minister and president in Dublin, said a unified Ireland would be 'fantastic', and faced protests in the capital.
US President Donald Trump's weekend stop in Dublin drew a coalition of demonstrators to the Irish capital on Saturday, hours after he said a united Ireland would be "fantastic."
The protest brought together left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organisations and environmental campaigners, who gathered with placards and chants.
Trump's remark on Irish unity came during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin. He said he would like to see the Republic of Ireland reunited with Northern Ireland, a subject that has long been politically sensitive.
Competing claims over whether Northern Ireland should be Irish or British fuelled decades of violence that killed some 3,600 people. American presidents have generally avoided direct comment on the question, including those with close personal ties to Ireland such as Joe Biden.
During the visit, Trump also held talks with Irish President Catherine Connolly, a left-wing politician who took part in protests against his 2019 visit and has previously criticised US policy in the Middle East, calling him a "bully."
The two met at the end of a red carpet at her official residence, where they shook hands and spoke before going inside. Trump later emerged alone, saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the US national anthem, and inspected an Irish Army honour guard.
Police set up a cordon around Dublin's 1,750-acre Phoenix Park, where Connolly's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, is located. Trump met Martin at the government's Farmleigh state guesthouse and also stopped at Deerfield, the US ambassador's residence.
He was scheduled to address US and Irish business leaders at the ambassador's residence before travelling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.