Australia

Canberra, Monday, 14 September 2026. The Australian press is portraying Donald Trump's two-day visit to Ireland as an exercise where diplomacy is mixed without complexity with his personal affairs. SBS News notes that the trip "blurs the lines between his presidency and his personal commercial interests," recalling the Doonbeg golf course in the west of the country, where the president attended the Irish Open before presenting the trophy to winner Shane Lowry.

On Saturday, received in Dublin by Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump stated that he wants to see Ireland "unified": "I would love to see it united. I think it would be a tremendous achievement for everyone. It will eventually happen," he said, as quoted by ABC News Australia. On Sunday, in Doonbeg, he insisted: "you have Northern Ireland and you have Ireland, and it seems to me that one of the natural orders of things is to bring them together."

These comments, unusual for an American president — even Joe Biden, with Irish roots, had avoided the subject —, have provoked an immediate response from British conservatives and the Northern Irish DUP. Conservative vice-chief Alex Burghart judged Trump "very wrong," recalling that Northern Ireland is "an integral part" of the United Kingdom. Downing Street referred to the position of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who had ruled out an immediate referendum, reaffirming attachment to the Good Friday Agreement.

PerthNow notes that the controversy adds to the doubts expressed by Trump about Britain's ability to defend the Falklands, further straining Washington-London relations. The visit took place under very high security, with demonstrations in Dublin where protesters waved Irish and Palestinian flags. The president's son, Eric Trump, defended the family's investment, recalling that the Doonbeg golf course remains the region's largest employer.