Trump says people in ‘poverty-stricken UK are dancing in the streets’ over Burnham

The UK’s ‘special relationship’ with the US is off to a good start.

Donald Trump has said ‘poverty-stricken’ people in Scotland are ‘dancing in the streets’ now that Andy Burnham will become prime minister tomorrow.

Burnham, the fifth prime minister the president has dealt with, will reportedly announce plans for drilling and exploration in the North Sea.

This was music to Trump’s ears, he said on his social media

Trump said: ‘The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!

‘It is one of the Greatest Sources of quality Oil on Earth, has hundreds of years of Capacity left, with much not even found yet, and will make the United Kingdom, from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World!’

Trump repeatedly called on the outgoing prime minister, Keir Starmer, to ‘open up the fields’ and let more oil and gas companies tap the North Sea.

Around 0.4% of people in the UK live on around £2.20 a day, compared to 1.10% in the US, according to The World Bank, a major development bank.

Trump added in his post that the UK is going to ‘move the old and horrible-looking windmills’ in Aberdeen.

He did not elaborate further on this. Off the coast of Aberdeen is the Bay Wind Farm, which is made of wind turbines, not windmills, however.

Trump added: ‘That will be a big day for the Country, and will be very much appreciated by everybody. Such great potential in the UK, but it all starts with OPENING NORTH SEA OIL. WE LOVE YOU SCOTLAND!’

The UK imported 16.2 million metric tons of crude oil, also called liquid petroleum, from the US in 2024.

Insiders told the BBC that Burnham is considering approving new oil and gas projects in the North Sea, about 80 miles from the Shetland Islands.

This was something that labor’s 2024 manifesto pledged not to do, arguing that pumping more fossil fuels would do little to ease energy bills.

Regulators gave the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields the green light in 2022 and 2023, decisions environmental campaigners said were at odds with the UK’s promise to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

But a court ruled last year that the approval was unlawful amid concerns that drilling for more fossil fuels will deepen climate change.

Burnham could get away with not breaking the pledge by speeding up already approved projects in Jackdaw and Rosebank, insiders said.

labor deputy leader Lucy Powell said reports that Burnham could allow more North Sea drilling were ‘speculation’.

She added: ‘I don’t think it’s a change of policy. It’s more a change of emphasis.’

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