President of Ireland Catherine Connolloy has revealed that US President Donald Trump asked her about Irish unification during their brief meeting in Dublin on Saturday, September 12.
Trump, who was in Ireland to attend the Amgen Irish Open at his golf resort in Doonbeg, had engagements with the Irish President, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and US Ambassador Ed Walsh in Dublin before traveling to Co Clare.
During his Dublin blitz, the US President made international headlines when he told reporters that he would like to see a united Ireland.
Now, President Connolly - who gifted President Trump a St Brigid’s Cross, a copy of the book "Navigatio Sancti Brendani – The Voyage of St Brendan," and the collected poems of Michael Longley, including his sonnet "Ceasefire" during their meeting - has revealed that Trump asked her about Northern Ireland during their private meeting, before he told reporters his views.
According to the PA, Connolly was asked on Thursday if she or the US President had first raised the issue of Irish unity during their meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin.
“It was a long meeting," Connolly said. "Actually, it was 20 minutes plus. It was a very polite meeting, and the President listened.
“He did some talk, the initial talk was on golf, and then I referred to my role under the Constitution, which I had with me, and it’s a very interesting little book on our Constitution.
“And my role is set out there, and I discussed that with him, and the obligation on us under Article 29 in particular in relation to resolving disputes peacefully.
“We had an interesting discussion on that.”
Connolly continued: “He asked me my thoughts on the North [Northern Ireland], and I referred back to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and consensus.
“And again, it was handy to have the Constitution because that’s set out in our constitution that that issue will be resolved through consent.
“He asked me specifically, would it be resolved during my lifetime, and I said I hoped it would.
“He made a joke about age, but a complimentary joke, I might add, but we went back to the issue in relation to that; I would like to see it in my lifetime.
“But I went back a number of times to the Constitution.”
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Trump says Irish unity would be "fantastic"
Speaking to the media beside Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Dublin on Saturday, September 12, Trump was asked what his view is on Irish unification.
"Well, I don't want to cause any problems," Trump replied. "But I will tell you, I'd love to see it unified."
He continued: "I have friends on both sides. Great people. They're Irish people; how can they be bad, right?"
In Northern Ireland, loyalists who want to remain a part of the United Kingdom generally identify as British, not Irish.
Trump continued: "I'd love to see it unified. I think it would be great, a great feather in everyone'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 might as well happen now."
"We're talking about it," Trump said with a slight nod to the Taoiseach, who told BBC NI's Borderland podcast earlier in the week that there needs to be greater clarity about what would lead to a border poll being called.
Trump continued: "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?"
US President Donald Trump has said he would "love to see" a "unified" Ireland.
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 12, 2026
Speaking to journalists at Farmleigh House in Dublin's Phoenix Park, he said unification was "going to happen eventually".#trump #donaltrump #ireland pic.twitter.com/VVZyXVtKKA
Later, speaking at the US Ambassador's residence in Dublin, Trump doubled down on his views on Irish unity: "They asked me a question, 'What do you think about unification of Ireland and Northern Ireland?'
"I said, 'Oh, that's a nice question.' I gave a nice answer, I think. We'll read about it tomorrow.
"That's one of those questions where no matter what you say, no matter how well you say it, there's no good answer. There are about four or five; I could tell you some other ones, but I'm not going to get you started. But that was one of the questions.
"But I actually said I think it would be a very cool thing, to be honest with you, I think it would be cool."
He jokingly acknowledged that not everyone would agree with his answer: "As half the room clears out. They say, 'Listen, let's get the hell out of here. I don't like this guy. I liked him a lot ten minutes ago; I don't like him [now]."
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