Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Irish unification and brushed off Andy Burnham’s opposition to a referendum.
“Everybody says that. Then things happen,” the US president said on Sunday of the British prime minister’s response.
“It seems to me that one of the naturals of all time is to put them together,” Trump said of the unification of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Trump caused consternation on both sides of the Irish Sea on Saturday when, at the start of a two-day visit to Ireland, he said he would “love” to see a united Ireland and “it may as well happen now”.
Trump ended his visit on Sunday at his Doonbeg golf resort in County Clare in exuberant fashion by presenting the Irish Open trophy to Shane Lowry and announcing that he would cut tariffs on Irish whiskey.
“Everyone’s been bugging me,” he told the crowd. “They say ‘will you do me a favour, it’s so unfair, could you possibly take the tariffs off Irish whiskey?’ And I said ‘on behalf of the United States of America I’m going to take the tariffs off Irish whiskey’.”
Some in the crowd cheered Trump’s name and chanted “USA”.
A 15% tariff on Irish whiskey – part of White House measures against EU imports – disadvantaged it against competitors, including scotch and Northern Ireland whiskey, which have no tariffs.
The decision followed repeated affirmations by Trump that he loves Ireland – and wishes to see the island unified. The avowals undercut the tradition of White House neutrality on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and prompted responses from London.
Downing Street said Burnham still believed there was not the required support for unification to trigger a referendum, as set out in the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. Two weeks ago, Burnham said a referendum was “off the table”.
Irish nationalists welcomed Trump’s remarks, while the Conservative party and Northern Irish unionists condemned them.
On Sunday Trump expressed delight at the controversy. “Many people agree. I made what I considered to be a fairly routine comment, I have had so much support on that,” he said.
Asked about independence for Scotland, he reserved opinion. “I won’t talk about Scotland yet, I will save that.”
The leaders of Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National party and Sinn Féin are meeting in Cardiff on Monday, where they will discuss ways to strengthen cooperation for constitutional change.
Angela Rayner, the UK’s communities secretary, played down the president’s remarks. “Donald Trump is Donald Trump, and the president will say and speak his mind as he sees it,” she told Sky News. The government was serious about the Good Friday agreement and would “continue on that path”, she said.
Trump’s comments were awkward for the Irish government, which prefers to discuss cross-border initiatives rather than unification. Last month the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said that he “goes bananas” when his Fianna Fáil party colleagues call for a border poll.
On Sunday, Martin said there had been “overreaction” to Trump’s comments. “He takes a different sort of perspective on things. We know that,” he said. “I think if everyone keeps a calm perspective on things, you know, we will take it from there.”
Sinn Féin figures welcomed Trump’s support for Irish unification. “They reflect the broad North American sentiment towards Irish unity and particularly the Irish diaspora towards Irish reunification,” said Gerry Adams, the party’s former leader.
Adams accused successive Irish governments of being “incredibly shortsighted” and failing to plan for unification. “There is no excuse for this.”
Trump’s comments also proved awkward for Northern Ireland unionists who have supported the president on other topics.
“Everyone is allowed a personal opinion even when it’s wrong,” said Ian Paisley Jr, a former Democratic Unionist party MP. “The political, cultural and economic reality is that Northern Ireland and its people are British and wish to remain so,” he said.
