Donald Trump Puts Himself On Collision Course With 'Extremely Liberal' Andy Burnham

Donald Trump has described Andy Burnham as “extremely liberal” as he set himself on a collision course with the incoming prime minister.

The US president said he believed Burnham “probably won’t open up the North Sea” for fresh exploration when he enters No.10.

He also dismissed the new PM as “the mayor of a town”, a reference to his previous job in Greater Manchester.

His comments, the first since it became clear that Burnham will replace Keir Starmer, suggest relations between the British and American governments are unlikely to improve any time soon.

Despite initially appearing to strike up a good working relationship, Trump and Starmer eventually ended up at loggerheads over the war in Iran.

Asked at the White House on Wednesday what he knew about Burnham, Trump said: “I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town.

“I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea.

“I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice. I said, open up the North Sea, go to Aberdeen, which was the hottest city of the whole continent.

“It was the oil city of Europe, and they closed everything. It was terrible. I couldn’t believe it.

“The North Sea is loaded. I have had every oil company come to see me ‘Sir. could you give us access to the UK? We would do anything to drill in the North Sea’.

“The amazing thing is, they buy their oil from Norway, which gets the oil from the North Sea. Think of it, and they pay a big premium.

“Norway’s got now two trillion dollars in the bank, and the UK is dying, so they should open up the North Sea, and it’s an easy one, and a lot of good things are going to happen. It’s among the greatest deals in the world.”

During the Makerfield by-election, Burnham warned that Britain was heading for what he described as the “polarised, poisonous politics” of America.

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