US President Donald Trump described Irish unification as "a very cool thing" while quipping that there was "no good answer" to the question posed to him.
Mr Trump made the remarks while addressing a question about Irish unification raised by the Press Association at an earlier press conference held at Farmleigh House in Dublin.
Remarks at the US ambassador's residence
Speaking from the US ambassador's residence in Ireland, Mr Trump said: "You have to understand with the press, with me, every question is a kill."
Reflecting on the Press Association's question, the US president continued: "But they're going for the kill at all times, and they ask me a question: 'What do you think about unification of Northern Ireland and 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, right?"
"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 it would be, I think, a very cool thing. To be honest with you, I think it would be cool."
"As half the room clears out, they say: 'Let's get the hell out of here. I don't like this guy. I liked him a lot 10 minutes ago. I don't like him'."
Talks with Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Speaking earlier during talks with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Mr Trump expressed that he would "love" to witness a unified Ireland, suggesting that "it may as well happen now" since it is "going to happen eventually".
Seated beside the Taoiseach, Mr Trump remarked: "Well, I don't want to cause any problems, but I will tell you I'd love to see it unified."
"I have friends on both sides, great people. They're Irish people. How can they be bad, right?"
"I'd love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody'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 may as well happen now."
"We're talking about it and 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?"
