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Trump meets Ireland's leaders before heading to his golf club in Doonbeg
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During that visit, he held talks with the British prime minister and the president of the European Commission.
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump meets Ireland's leaders before heading to his golf club in Doonbeg President Trump held talks in Dublin with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin during a weekend visit centered on a major golf tournament.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump touches a nerve while in Ireland by saying reunification would be 'fantastic' President Trump held talks in Dublin with Irish President Catherine Connolly and Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin during a weekend visit centered on a major golf tournament.
− Policy & Politics Trump meets Ireland's leaders before heading to his golf club in Doonbeg September 12, 20266:55 AM ET By
The Associated Press
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin (left) and President Trump met Saturday at Farmleigh House in Dublin.
+ Policy & Politics Trump touches a nerve while in Ireland by saying reunification would be 'fantastic' Updated September 13, 20261:28 AM ET Originally published September 12, 20266:55 AM ET By
The Associated Press
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin (left) and President Trump met Saturday at Farmleigh House in Dublin.
− Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption
President Trump held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart, Catherine Connolly, during a weekend visit that's more about a major golf tournament hosted on a course he owns on the country's Atlantic coast.
+ Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption
DUBLIN — U.S.
− He also met with Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
+ President Donald Trump said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be "fantastic" as he waded into a complex and politically charged subject during a weekend visit to a tournament at his Irish golf course.
− Trump will address the U.S.
+ At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, Trump said he would love to see the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland.
"I don't want to cause any problems but I'd love to see it unified," Trump told a reporter who sought his opinion on the issue.
− and Irish business leaders at the U.S.
+ "It's going to happen eventually.
− ambassador's official residence in Dublin before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.
+ It may as well happen now.
− Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019 during his first term in office.
+ "I think it would be a fantastic thing," the Republican president said, adding that "the U.K.
− She is now Ireland's elected, largely ceremonial head of state.
+ will have something to say about it, obviously."
At his next stop, Trump acknowledged there is "no good answer" to the reunification question as he addressed business leaders from both countries gathered at the U.S.
− A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S.
+ ambassador's residence.
Competing visions of Northern Ireland — whether Irish or British — drove decades of violence in the six-county region that has a Protestant majority and has remained part of the U.K.
Previous American presidents, including Democrat Joe Biden, who has strong emotional ties to Ireland, have avoided commenting directly on the subject.
Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbor Britain, became a self-governing Catholic-majority country a century ago.
− policy in the Middle East and called Trump a "bully."
The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence.
+ Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: nationalists, most of them Catholic, who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists, who wanted to stay British.
− They shook hands and chatted before going inside.
+ Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops.
A 1998 peace accord that the United States was instrumental in negotiating largely ended the violence, but left Northern Ireland's ultimate status unresolved.
− He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S.
+ That agreement allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it.
− national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.
Connolly then joined Trump outdoors to introduce the U.S.
+ U.K.
− and Irish delegations before the leaders went back inside for their closed-door talks.
+ Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that the U.K. would only consider allowing a referendum "when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered." Burnham's office referred back to that comment when asked about Trump's statement.
− Trump's visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.
+ Trump's comments Saturday, along with recent statements about the Falkland Islands, a small British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean that Argentina calls Las Malvinas, could also be viewed as a dig at Britain, given his anger over London's refusal to be drawn into the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
− Police put up a cordon around Dublin's 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin.
+ Trump once more raised the prospect of conflict between the U.K.
− He will meet Martin, the taoiseach, at the government's Farmleigh state guesthouse and stop by Deerfield, the U.S.
+ and Argentina over the Falklands.
− ambassador's residence.
+ Argentina's President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has recently restated his country's claim to the territory of about 3,500 people, which is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) east of the southeast coast of Argentina.
− Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption.
"He's causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf," said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump.
+ Trump has previously said Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands' sovereignty.
− "The world's in turmoil and this fella's down playing golf."
University student Mina Petrovski said Trump's "attitudes towards women, towards immigrants, towards minority communities in general are abhorrent." She said it's "shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms."
Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.
+ On Saturday, he expressed skepticism that Britain would be able to retake the Falklands as it did after Argentina invaded in 1982.
− Trump's son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite the protests planned over his father's visit.
+ "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," he said.
− Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.
"Go down to Morrissey's tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we've done for the country and what we've invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them," he said.
Trump flew overnight to Ireland after observing the 25th anniversary of the Sept.
+ A meeting with the Irish president who criticized Trump
Trump also held talks in Dublin with Irish President Catherine Connolly, a left-wing politician who joined protesters when Trump visited Ireland in 2019 during his first term in office.
− 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
+ She is now Ireland's elected, largely ceremonial head of state.
− The Republican president spent the two nights before Friday's solemn observance giving lengthy speeches at a political pep rally in Dallas.
+ A supporter of the Palestinian cause, Connolly has in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a "bully."
Connolly said in a statement after the meeting that she conveyed to Trump "the strong view of the Irish people that the normalization of war and genocide can never be accepted." She gave Trump several gifts, among them a collection by the late Irish poet Michael Longley that includes the sonnet "Ceasefire."
Asked about the meeting, Trump first had his protocol chief, Monica Crowley, answer before he was pressed and said it was "very nice." "We discussed a lot of things, quickly," Trump said.
− Martin invited Trump to visit Ireland when they met at the White House on St.
+ Police put up a cordon around Dublin's 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where Connolly, Martin and U.S.
− Patrick's Day this year, and Ireland's political leaders will likely see the visit as a chance to maintain warm trans-Atlantic relations despite differences over trade and foreign policy, issues the White House said Trump wants to discuss.
+ Ambassador Edward Walsh have residences and welcomed Trump.
− Martin said before Trump arrived that he looked forward to discussing issues of "mutual interest" and "reaffirming the strong economic, cultural and people-to-people ties between Ireland and the United States."
Martin also said he hopes to see an Irish winner lifting the trophy on Sunday.
+ A protest march drew thousands to central Dublin.
− Ireland's Shane Lowry topped the leaderboard at the tournament's halfway point.
+ He had left the city and was on the way to his Doonbeg golf course on the country's Atlantic coast by the time the demonstration began.
− Trump plays golf just about every weekend at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia.
+ Many in the crowd waved Irish or Palestinian flags and chanted "Donald Trump not welcome here" and "Irish government, shame on you!"
Protesters show placards during a demonstration against the visit of U.S.
− His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events — and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business.
+ President Donald Trump in Dublin, Saturday, Sept.
− His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.
+ 12, 2026. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption
Paula Butler said she came with a contingent from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre to oppose the American president's "attitude to women, to refugees, to migrants."
She was unimpressed by Trump's support for Irish unity, a popular cause in Ireland.
− The Irish Open is the second European Tour event to be held at a Trump property this year.
+ "What he knows about Irish unity, I'd say I know more on my little finger," Butler said.
Kim Mathis, who moved from Florida to Dublin last year with her partner, said "part of the reason we moved to Ireland was to get away from Trump and all of his horrific policies."
She said dealing with Trump is "a global conundrum" for governments.
− The Nexo Championship was held last month at Trump's golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.
+ "It would be really nice if politicians would just say, 'Stay home.'"
Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, Trump's son Eric said the course is the largest employer in the area.
− Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.
+ "Go down to Morrissey's tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we've done for the country and what we've invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them," he said.
Trump's visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.
He spends most weekends playing golf at his clubs in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia.
+ His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have hosted professional golf tournaments this year.
Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.
− NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews.
+ Asked if he would return to Ireland next year for the Ryder Cup, Trump said, "I will.
+ Absolutely."
NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews.