Trump labels Labour frontrunner Burnham ‘extremely liberal’ amid North Sea oil dispute
Donald Trump’s first public comments on Andy Burnham highlight deepening transatlantic tensions over energy policy and Middle East strategy ahead of the NATO summit.
US President Donald Trump has issued his first public remarks on Andy Burnham, the frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer as leader of the UK Labour Party, describing the former Greater Manchester mayor as “extremely liberal.” The comments were made during a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte at the White House in Washington, where Trump suggested Burnham’s political stance would likely prevent the opening of the North Sea to oil exploration.
Trump told reporters, “I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea.” When pressed on what he knew about Burnham, the US president added, “I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town.” The remarks signal a potentially difficult relationship between Washington and a future Labour leadership, particularly given Trump’s assertion that “the UK is dying.”
The comments occurred against a backdrop of strained relations between the US and European allies, including the UK, over their perceived lack of support for the US and Israel in the ongoing conflict with Iran. Trump expressed disappointment with the UK, alongside Italy, Germany, and Spain, for their refusal to support the US in the Middle East conflict or assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte visited Washington to attempt to ease these strains ahead of a pivotal Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara in July. Rutte used cardboard charts to demonstrate increased defence spending by Nato countries since 2017 and highlighted that thousands of US planes had taken off from European bases during the war, citing this as evidence of allied support.
Despite Rutte’s diplomatic efforts, Trump appeared unconvinced, at times interrupting to disagree. However, he praised Rutte’s leadership, stating, “You really have done a good job... we were let down” by other allies. This meeting follows a deterioration in Trump’s relationship with Starmer, who initially pursued a conciliatory approach but faced criticism over the Iran conflict, while Burnham has previously described American politics as “polarised” and “poisonous.”