Donald Trump has labelled Andy Burnham “extremely liberal”, in his first public comments about the former Greater Manchester mayor since he emerged as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer.
The US president told reporters Burnham “probably won’t open up the North Sea” for oil exploration, and that “the UK is dying”, signalling that the newly elected Labour MP could face a rocky relationship with Trump.
Burnham has been critical of Trump in the past, describing American politics as “polarised” and “poisonous” while on the campaigning trail in Makerfield this month.
As rioters stormed the US Capitol in 2021, Burnham posted on X: “Any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now.”
Asked 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.”
Since Trump’s election victory in November 2024, Starmer has sought to pursue a conciliatory approach with him, and initially drew praise for his deft handling of the unpredictable president, but their relationship deteriorated over the Iran conflict.
Burnham’s route to No 10 appears wide open, with few other Labour MPs being discussed as potential challengers.
Trump’s comments on Burnham came during a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.
Rutte is visiting Washington to try to ease strains in the alliance over the Iran war and Trump’s threats to draw down troops in Europe, ahead of a pivotal Nato leaders’ summit in July in Ankara.
Trump, a longtime Nato critic who has called the alliance a “paper tiger,” has been angered by allies’ refusal to support the US in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the strait of Hormuz, after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in February.
Trump expressed particular disappointment with the UK – along with Italy, Germany and Spain.
During the meeting, Rutte used cardboard charts to show how much Nato countries have stepped up their defence spending since Trump first came into office in 2017.
He also said thousands of US planes had taken off from bases in Europe during the war, pointing to that cooperation as a sign of the allies’ support.
“I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking your European allies have been there,” Rutte said.
Trump appeared unconvinced, at times interrupting Rutte to disagree with him, though he praised his leadership.
“You really have done a good job, and I think if anybody else were in that position, we wouldn’t even be meeting today, to be honest with you, because we were let down,” Trump said.
With the Press Association and Reuters