Trump: Brexit ‘will work out’ for Ireland

President Trump on Wednesday downplayed the possibility that the Irish border will throw a wrench into Brexit, even though it is one of the most contentious issues in the United Kingdom’s effort to leave the European Union.

“I just left some very good people who are very involved with Brexit, as you know. And I think it will all work out very well, and also for you with your wall, your border,” Trump said during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. “I hear it’s going to work out very well here.”

Varadkar replied that “one thing we want to avoid, of course, is a wall or border between us.”

But asked during their meeting whether Brexit would be bad for Ireland, Trump predicted the opposite.

“I think it should be good. The big thing is going to be your border, and hopefully that’s going to work out, and I think it will work out,” the president said.

One major concern in the Brexit process is whether Britain’s departure from the EU will result in border checkpoints between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, which remains in the EU.

The EU had reached an agreement with British Prime Minister Theresa May that would avoid a so-called hard border. But her failure to push that deal through Parliament led to her decision to resign and the issue remains uncertain.