‘I hear he’s extremely liberal’: Trump offers first comments on Andy Burnham | Donald Trump
Donald Trump has described Andy Burnham as an “extreme liberal” in his first public comments about the former Manchester mayor since he emerged as the leader to replace Keir Starmer.
The US president told reporters that Burnham “probably won’t open the North Sea” for oil exploration and that “the UK is dying”, signaling that the newly elected Labor MP could face a difficult relationship with Trump.
Burnham has criticized Trump in the past and described American politics as “polarized” and “toxic” while campaigning in Makerfield this month.
As rioters stormed the US Capitol in 2021, Burnham posted on X: “Any British politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now.”
Asked Wednesday what he knew about Burnham, Trump said: “I don’t know, I think I see her as the mayor of a town.”
“I hear he’s extremely liberal, which means he probably won’t open the North Sea.”
Since Trump’s election victory in November 2024, Starmer has attempted to take a conciliatory approach with him, initially winning praise for his deft handling of the unpredictable president, but their relationship has deteriorated over the Iran conflict.
Burnham’s path to No 10 appears wide open, with several other Labor MPs being mooted as potential challengers.
Trump’s comments about Burnham came during a meeting with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.
Rutte is visiting Washington to try to ease tensions in the alliance over the Iran war and Trump’s threat to withdraw troops from Europe ahead of a key summit of NATO leaders in Ankara in July.
Trump, a long-time NATO critic who has called the alliance a “paper tiger,” was angered by the allies’ refusal to support the United States in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran in February.
Trump expressed particular disappointment with the United Kingdom, as well as Italy, Germany and Spain.
During the meeting, Rutte used cardboard charts to show how much NATO countries have increased their defense spending since Trump took office in 2017.
He also stated that thousands of US planes took off from bases in Europe during the war, and pointed out that this cooperation was a sign of the support of the allies.
“I know there were isolated cases where you were really disappointed, but in general your European allies were there,” Rutte said.
Trump appeared unconvinced, occasionally interrupting Rutte to disagree with him but praise his leadership.
“You’ve done a really good job, and I think if it had been anyone else in this position, we would be disappointed because, quite frankly, we wouldn’t be meeting today,” Trump said.
With the Press Association and Reuters
