Trump visits Ireland, says unification would be 'fantastic'

US President Donald Trump has said he would "love" to see the Republic of Ireland , an EU member, unite with British-run ⁠Northern Ireland as he faced reporters' questions on a range of issues on Saturday.

Trump is taking the weekend trip largely to watch the Irish Open golf tournament held on a course he owns on the country’s Atlantic coast, but he met as well with the Irish president and prime minister, or taoiseach.

The US leader also spoke optimistically about his country's war with Iran and its trade conflict with Canada , among several other topics.

After a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the capital, Dublin, Trump said he very much supported what he said would be the eventual unification of the two parts of the island of Ireland.

"Well, I don't want to ​cause any problems, ​but ‌I will tell you, I'd love to see ‌it unified," Trump told ‌reporters.

"The way I look at it, it's ⁠going ​to happen ​eventually ... I think it would ​be a ‌fantastic thing," he added.

"Now the UK will have ​something ⁠to say about it ... but ⁠I think ​it would be a great thing."

The British government responded swiftly to the remarks, with Prime Minister Andy Burham's office saying that in his view, there was no majority public support for a referendum on the issue and that there would not be another one until that changed.