5

It's well known that Donald Trump is an advocate of (a fairly hard) Brexit, along the lines of the UK taking back control of its borders (a topic that meshes well with Trump's domestic policy on immigration.) E.g. after Boris Johnson's resignation, Trump said [excerpts]:

“I actually told Theresa May how to do it, but she didn’t listen to me.

“The deal she [May] is striking is a much ­different deal than the one the people voted on.

“It was not the deal that was in the referendum. I have just been hearing this over the last three days. I know they have had a lot of resignations. So a lot of people don’t like it.”

Has Trump said anything about the Irish border though? It's one of most difficult topics in the Brexit negotiations, and insofar a "hard border" has been called politically undesirable by both UK and the EU... So has Trump ever mentioned the topic of the Irish border in his vision/advice on Brexit?

Ok, apparently he said something very vague, in March 2018:

US President Donald Trump has said he will visit Ireland and would go to the border. [...] On the border, Mr Trump said: "That is an interesting border also, we have two interesting borders", an apparent allusion to the US/Mexico frontier where he wants to build a wall.

That's probably too vague for an answer through. I guess we might have to wait for his post-visit impression/advice.

Improve this question
3
  • No source has mentioned that Trump discussed with Theresa May on the Irish border issue associated with the Brexit negotiation. What is more important is Theresa May's brexit plan is changing the trade terms and persists free labour movement. That makes public outrage on her. Trump has advised May to sue EU.
    – Larry Lo
    Commented Jul 21, 2018 at 10:48
  • 6
    Earlier comments might lead one to suggest Trump doesn't know Ireland is a different country, not part of the UK. If he really doesn't know, I doubt he has any insight in the complex issues regarding that border.
    – JJJ ♦
    Commented Jul 21, 2018 at 11:44
  • Worth pointing out that at the time of the referendum there was only a Remain deal (the improved UK EU membership something that Cameron had come up with) while the extent of a Leave was up to the imagination of Leave campaigners and voters.
    – Jan
    Commented May 25, 2019 at 10:43

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

Has Trump said anything about the Irish border though?

So far as I can find using the usual tools, Donald Trump has not published anything meaningful concerning the future arrangements for the international border in the island of Ireland after the UK leaves the EU (Brexit).

The extent of his public communications on the subject are limited to the quotation in your question where he describes the matter as "interesting" and implicitly compares it to the USA/Mexico border.

His proposals for the USA/Mexico border, if implemented in Ireland, would not be compatible with the Good-Friday agreement betweek the UK and the Republic of Ireland. That sort of proposal has already been firmly ruled out by the UK and Irish governments.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .