Don't fret, Trump tells nervous Ireland, Brexit will work out 'very well'

[webfact]

Don't fret, Trump tells nervous Ireland, Brexit will work out 'very well'

By Steve Holland and Conor Humphries

 

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Shannon Airport in Shannon, Ireland, June 5, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

 

DOONBEG, Ireland (Reuters) - Donald Trump, arriving in Ireland for the first time as U.S. president on Wednesday, sought to reassure the country that Britain's exit from the European Union would work out fine for its near neighbour.

 

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar used a meeting with Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of Brexit, to underline Ireland's concerns over the departure that could affect it more than any other country remaining in the 28-member bloc.

 

How to keep EU-member Ireland's currently seamless 500-km (350-mile) border with Northern Ireland open after Brexit and ensure it does not jeopardise two decades of peace in the British province is proving the most intractable issue in Britain's tortuous efforts to leave the EU.

 

Before meeting Varadkar on his arrival at Shannon Airport, Trump said he expected the premier would ask him about Brexit and it would all work out "very well" for Ireland.

 

"The way it (the border) works now is good; you want to try and keep it that way and I know that's a big point of contention with respect to Brexit. I'm sure it's going to work out well," Trump told reporters.

 

Trump also told Varadkar the problem with "your wall, your border" was similar to the border situation in the United States, before the Irish prime minister jumped in to say the main thing Dublin wanted to avoid was a border or a wall between both sides.

 

Some 3,600 people were killed during Northern Ireland's "Troubles", a sectarian conflict between mainly Protestant unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, and predominantly Catholic Irish nationalists. The 1998 Good Friday peace deal, which the United States helped broker, largely ended the violence.

 

While Trump on Tuesday promised Britain a "phenomenal" post-Brexit trade deal, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi used a visit to both sides of the Irish border last month to warn that her fellow lawmakers would not agree any such deal if Brexit ends up undermining peace in Ireland.

 

After he and Trump met, Varadkar said the president understood Brexit cannot result in the return of a hard border on the island. He added the timing of their meeting was important as Trump would have heard "a certain story" from pro-Brexit lawmakers during the first stop-off of his European trip in Britain.

 

"He wants to keep that (the border) open and believes that can be done. We didn't go into any particular details as to how he thinks that can be done but he understands that has to be a shared objective," Varadkar said.

 

Trump said in his remarks that Ireland and the United States have a great relationship, "as good as it's been".

 

Varadkar posted a picture on Twitter of a guest book the president and first lady Melania Trump had signed that included the message "I love your country!" The word "love" was underlined.

 

Varadkar, who had opposed extending an invitation to Trump as a cabinet minister before changing his mind when he took over as prime minister in 2017, met Trump on the tarmac and said it was a great pleasure to welcome him to Ireland.

 

LOW-KEY VISIT

After being feted by Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family during his state visit to Britain, Trump's trip to Ireland will be far more low key, with the president spending almost all of his time at one of his golf resorts.

 

Demonstrators protested over Trump's visit, as they had in Britain. A small crowd of around 200 gathered at a "peace camp" set up outside Shannon Airport for the duration of the trip. A larger protest is planned for Dublin on Thursday.

 

"I don't want him here. I don't like him. He's a bully," said protestor Chris Murray.

 

But the president was given a warm welcome in Doonbeg where the hotel he bought five years ago supports local employment. Locals lined the tiny western village with the Stars and Stripes and put on a street party of Irish dancing to mark his arrival.

 

"Donald Trump, I think he's a great man," said Paul Markham, a local dairy worker in his 50s who tied red, white and blue ribbons around a green leprechaun hat and had been celebrating since lunchtime.

 

"There are a lot of fans around here because of the employment, because of the hotel. From now on it (Doonbeg) is going to be famous."

 

Trump's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., joined the festivities, going from pub to pub posing for selfies and buying drinks for the patrons from behind each bar. "Does Doonbeg love Trump?" Eric Trump asked the crowd outside Morrissey's Bar to cheers from onlookers.

 

Trump, who took part on Wednesday in events in southern England marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, will base himself at the hotel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean for two nights.

 

He will make a day trip from the hotel to France on Thursday for a D-Day commemoration there, before taking in a round of golf and returning to Washington on Friday.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Conor Humphries; Additional reporting by Graham Fahy in Dublin; Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Frances Kerry, James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-06

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[harada]

I'm sure that Irish nerves have now been settled after this reassurance from the stable genius.

[Tug]

Rember Ireland if the lips are moving or the thumbs are a tweeting most likely Donald is lying 

[sirineou]

And we all know trump never lies.

[OneMoreFarang]

Probably someone mentioned on the day before that there is a problem with the border between the UK and Ireland.

And for Trump it was obvious that a border problem must be solved with a wall.

The fact that the problem with a border is that nobody wants this border is obviously an alien concept to him.

 

Does he have any competent advisors who tell him from time to time what he should say and should not say? Or do those advisors only tell him the difficult parts and assume he knows the basics? Obviously he knows nothing!

[sammieuk1]

DOONBEG, Ireland (Reuters) - Donald Trump, arriving in Ireland for the first time as U.S. president on Wednesday, sought to reassure the country that Britain's exit from the European Union would work out fine for its near neighbour.

 

And if not we have a lot of guns for sale trust me a lot????

[legend49]

Ahhhh the great pretender  the Duck. He made a meal of China, Europe, Canada, North Korea, Mexico, the list just grows every day of failed trading partners; to be sure Ireland " go your own way not the ducks way".

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump also told Varadkar the problem with "your wall, your border" was similar to the border situation in the United States,

Just how ignorant can one get regarding the Irish border. There is NO comparison whatsoever between the respective borders.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Moonlover

[bendejo]

Yeah, they need a wall, they needed someone with a good brain to tell them that. 

 

Next up is the D-Day commemoration, what could possibly go wrong?

 

 

[Berkshire]

Why can't Trump just shut his big mouth?  He almost never knows what he's talking about.  An utter embarrassment to the formerly proud USA.  And every time Trump says something stupid, our friends overseas ask "How can this guy ever become President?  What is wrong with the USA?" 

[CharlieH]

Reported Off topic post removed.

[mtls2005]

Epic...

 

 

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Why can't Trump just shut his big mouth?  He almost never knows what he's talking about.  An utter embarrassment to the formerly proud USA.  And every time Trump says something stupid, our friends overseas ask "How can this guy ever become President?  What is wrong with the USA?" 

We Brits had best keep our own mouths shut on such issues for a while.

 

We could end up with that buffoon, Johnson as PM. That could mean a double trouble for the UK/US 'special relationship'.

[KKr]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., joined the festivities, going from pub to pub posing for selfies and buying drinks for the patrons from behind each bar. "Does Doonbeg love Trump?"

"from behind the bar" would mean they own the place isn't it? 
Anyway, that is a good way to be popular until the glass is empty .
 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump also told Varadkar the problem with "your wall, your border" was similar to the border situation in the United States

 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

After he and Trump met, Varadkar said the president understood Brexit cannot result in the return of a hard border on the island.

Mr. Varadkar showed some very good negotiation, or as the case may be, education skills here. 
Well done, albeit it would have been better if Dhe Donald would have made that statement.
 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"He wants to keep that (the border) open and believes that can be done. We didn't go into any particular details as to how he thinks that can be done ... ... 

Similar Problems, Similar solutions ??
Draft:
"
As the Irish example has shown, hard borders do not work: 
No Wall  = No Expense --> less budget Deficit --> Good idea !
"
Issue: now how to convince the Democrats that their wall idea is no good.

or, the Essence of the Donald. 

[Bluespunk]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump also told Varadkar the problem with "your wall, your border" was similar to the border situation in the United States, before the Irish prime minister jumped in to say the main thing Dublin wanted to avoid was a border or a wall between both sides.

trump is utterly clueless, absolutely no grasp of the issues involved and what is at stake for the Irish people. 

 

Go home, you’re an embarrassment to yourself and your country. 

[sawadee1947]

3 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Why can't Trump just shut his big mouth?  He almost never knows what he's talking about.  An utter embarrassment to the formerly proud USA.  And every time Trump says something stupid, our friends overseas ask "How can this guy ever become President?  What is wrong with the USA?" 

Well, you deserve what are you voting for. 

But honestly I pity you. It's embarracing in these days to show your American passport? 

I hope Americans will not grant this disabled? Loud speaker a second term 

 

[transam]

17 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

Well, you deserve what are you voting for. 

But honestly I pity you. It's embarracing in these days to show your American passport? 

I hope Americans will not grant this disabled? Loud speaker a second term 

 

A UK PP is just as embarrassing....Look at the state of the "two party" system, on one side a "joke" may be the next leader, on the opposition side a joke is their leader....

[sawadee1947]

27 minutes ago, transam said:

A UK PP is just as embarrassing....Look at the state of the "two party" system, on one side a "joke" may be the next leader, on the opposition side a joke is their leader....

Absolutely right. 

[soalbundy]

Trust me, I'm blond and just look how my trade war with China is working out.

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

Well, you deserve what are you voting for. 

But honestly I pity you. It's embarracing in these days to show your American passport? 

I hope Americans will not grant this disabled? Loud speaker a second term 

 

They may well do, it was an American who said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public".

[Loiner]

1 hour ago, transam said:

A UK PP is just as embarrassing....Look at the state of the "two party" system, on one side a "joke" may be the next leader, on the opposition side a joke is their leader....

I don't agree. There's nothing wrong with a UK PP. It will be even better when it's blue. Sure, the two party system is now beyond a joke, as as are the political elites administering it, and the chattering classes supporting it. I don't see that as 'the nation', or anything it stands for.

[Loiner]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"Donald Trump, I think he's a great man," said Paul Markham, a local dairy worker in his 50s who tied red, white and blue ribbons around a green leprechaun hat and had been celebrating since lunchtime.

You tell 'em fella. If anyone were to believe the MSM and the loonies spouting everywhere they would think there was something wrong. 

[Chomper Higgot]

7 minutes ago, Loiner said:

You tell 'em fella. If anyone were to believe the MSM and the loonies spouting everywhere they would think there was something wrong. 

So if we are not to believe what you refer to the ‘MSN’.

 

Where do you suggest we should get our news?

[Bluespunk]

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

So if we are not to believe what you refer to the ‘MSN’.

 

Where do you suggest we should get our news?

Possibly the mythical creature whose hat Paul Markham was wearing...

[Berkshire]

16 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

24 minutes ago, Loiner said:

You tell 'em fella. If anyone were to believe the MSM and the loonies spouting everywhere they would think there was something wrong. 

So if we are not to believe what you refer to the ‘MSN’.

 

Where do you suggest we should get our news?

I've tried getting an answer from these Trump supporters before and they seem to be rather shy about providing their news source.  I'm guessing they get their news directly from the Liar-in-Chief's mouth or his Twitter feed.  Sad!

[Laughing Gravy]

4 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

trump is utterly clueless, absolutely no grasp of the issues involved and what is at stake for the Irish people. 

 

Go home, you’re an embarrassment to yourself and your country. 

Yet he is democratically elected and will probably be re-elected.

[Bluespunk]

1 minute ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Yet he is democratically elected and will probably be re-elected.

So?

 

What has that got to do with the ignorance displayed when he expresses his ridiculous opinions on subjects he is clueless about?

[Laughing Gravy]

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

So?

 

What has that got to do with the ignorance displayed when he expresses his ridiculous opinions on subjects he is clueless about?

Well he maybe clueless to you. that's your opinion. Many Americans seem to differ. As a Brit I don't really care what he expresses. I don't go and cry my eyes out either. So the point is many people seem to differ from your opinion.

[Mavideol]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"He wants to keep that (the border) open and believes that can be done. We didn't go into any particular details as to how he thinks that can be done but he understands that has to be a shared objective," Varadkar said.

why does everybody gives Trump so much credit for opening his mouth.... it appears he has solutions for everyone's problems, made comments about Israel & Palestine, now Brexit and the NI border but funny thing he never proposed solutions, just SAY it can be done, like Columbus egg

[Bluespunk]

8 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Well he maybe clueless to you. that's your opinion. Many Americans seem to differ. As a Brit I don't really care what he expresses. I don't go and cry my eyes out either. So the point is many people seem to differ from your opinion.

Perhaps he should talk to those affected by the bloody violence of the "Troubles" before he talks about not worrying about brexit and the consequences it will have on the Good Friday Agreement...

Edited June 6, 2019 by Bluespunk