Trump says ‘windmills put you out of business’ as he hits out at UK’s North Sea policy in latest jibe at Starmer
Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Britain’s North Sea oil policy, saying windmills are “bankrupting you”.
The US president voiced his disapproval of the country’s approach as the government transitions to renewable energy sources.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump revealed he had advised Sir Keir Starmer on facilitating the extraction of more oil in the North Sea.
Asked whether European countries should increase their purchases of oil and gas from the United States, Mr. Trump confirmed that they should do so.
“And what they need to do is use the North Sea,” he added.
“I can tell you this, United Kingdom, I was telling this to your Prime Minister.
“Britain should unlock its North Sea oil, one of the world’s largest oils, and use it instead of buying oil from Norway and other places that use the same resource.
“They should. And they don’t. They make windmills and windmills, windmills do only one thing, you know what they do? It puts you out of business.”
The US president has long voiced his dislike of wind turbines, particularly offshore wind power, launching a battle with the Scottish Government to halt a development visible from an Aberdeenshire golf course.
Just two days ago Mr Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform in an apparently unsolicited post: “Europe is desperate for Energy, but the UK refuses to open North Sea Oil, one of the largest oil fields in the world. Tragic!!!”
He called on the country to conduct a “baby drill.”
The US president also said Britain and other European allies who refused to join the Iran war had “found themselves a problem”.
“We spent trillions of dollars on NATO, and when I asked them to get involved in a much smaller situation, namely the Strait of Hormuz and Iran, they were not there,” he said Thursday.
“Remember what I said. They weren’t there. None of them, they weren’t there.”
“We were there in Ukraine, this would never have happened if I were president, but we were still there when they had problems over the years.
“When we asked them to be there in a very small conflict, compared to what could have happened, they weren’t there. So I don’t think they would be there in a big conflict. So I think there’s something wrong with them.”
