U.S. President Donald Trump, with his usual gay abandon, dropped a bombshell when he casually voiced his support for a united Ireland, saying it “may as well happen now” and calling it “inevitable”. Equally inevitable was the diplomatic furore that resulted. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham quickly reaffirmed his position that a border poll – a vote on Irish reunification – was out of the question at present. Meanwhile, nationalist leaders in Northern Ireland were buoyed, while Taoiseach (the Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin equivocated, playing down the significance of Trump’s comments.