Trump calls likely next British leader Andy Burnham ‘extremely liberal’

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump was dismissive of Andy Burnham, who is set to become the next British prime minister, saying he was unfamiliar with him and has heard only that he is “extremely liberal”.

The US leader was asked by a reporter on June 24 about what he knew about Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who is poised to succeed Keir Starmer in Britain’s latest leadership shake-up.

“I don’t know anything. 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,” Trump said during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Burnham is likely to be the only contender to be nominated to replace Starmer as Labour Party leader and could become prime minister by mid-July.

The president’s comments have set the stage for a potentially rocky relationship between the two men.

Trump and Starmer began with a largely positive relationship, but ties soured in recent months as the president levelled near daily criticism at Britain and European allies, and mocked Starmer as weak for refusing to commit resources to the US-led military campaign against Iran.

Trump also repeatedly pressured Starmer to extract more oil from the North Sea.

Starmer’s Labour government declined to issue new licences for oil and gas development in the waterway as it sought to shift to greener energy sources.

Burnham, during the recent campaign for his parliamentary seat, told a British media outlet that he has “something of an open mind” on the issue of North Sea oil and gas, holding no fixed position.

“I disagreed with Starmer,” Trump said, adding that he had repeatedly warned the former prime minister about energy, immigration and crime.

“I said, ‘You’re going to lose your prime ministership,’ and he did.” BLOOMBERG