Nicolai Haugsted
The US president is very critical about who is predicted to become the new PM of the United Kingdom.
Britain may soon have a new prime minister, but Donald Trump is already sounding unimpressed.
After Keir Starmer announced his resignation following weak polling and poor local election results, attention has turned to Andy Burnham as the leading candidate to take over Labour and enter Downing Street.
Trump, however, made clear on Wednesday that he knows little about Burnham — while still managing to criticize his politics.
Trump: “Mayor of a town”
Asked about Burnham, Trump offered a dismissive description of the man expected to become Britain’s next prime minister.
“I don’t know anything. I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town,” Trump said according to Reuters.
Burnham is currently mayor of Greater Manchester and is so far the only contender to replace Starmer as Labour leader.
Trump then added that he had heard Burnham was “extremely liberal”.
“I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea,” Trump said.
North Sea oil remains Trump’s obsession
Trump used the comments to return to one of his familiar criticisms of Britain’s energy policy.
According to the U.S. president, Starmer should have allowed more oil drilling in the North Sea.
“You know I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice, I said open up the North Sea,” Trump said.
The remark came after months of cooling relations between Washington and London. Starmer had initially tried to maintain good ties with Trump, including by offering him a rare second state visit.
Relations later became more strained after Britain first rejected a U.S. request to use British bases for strikes on Iran, before eventually granting permission.
Starmer’s resignation has opened the door for a leadership contest inside Labour, though Burnham currently appears to have a clear path.
If the process moves quickly, he could be appointed by mid-July.
For now, Trump seems to be judging him mostly through one issue: oil.
Burnham has not yet publicly responded to Trump’s remarks.
