Donald Trump has thrown his first verbal punches at the man expected to be Britain's next prime minister, branding Andy Burnham an "extremely liberal" politician who "probably won't open up" the North Sea for more oil and gas – and dismissing him as "the mayor of a town".
The US president's intervention, during a White House Q&A, underscores the diplomatic tightrope facing the former Greater Manchester mayor as he prepares to succeed Sir Keir Starmer. Burnham's team declined to comment on the remarks.
“Trump mocks Burnham as 'extremely liberal' mayor, while North Sea oil and gas fields await approval.”
Hours earlier, Trump had prematurely announced Starmer's resignation. Now he was sizing up Burnham, whose name he appeared to struggle with. "Andy Whateverhisnamewas," the president said, before pivoting to Sadiq Khan, the London mayor he again called "grossly incompetent".
Burnham, the newly elected MP for Makerfield and the only candidate in the Labour leadership race, is expected to enter Downing Street within weeks. But his path is already strewn with domestic and foreign challenges.
At home, he has been skewered by Kemi Badenoch at PMQs, who dismissed him as a "pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt". Burnham responded with a five-second social media post – a coy look at his T-shirt and a flutter of the eyelashes, captioning it: "It's dark blue actually." The riposte was widely seen as devastatingly effective.
On policy, Burnham announced he will donate 15% of his MP's salary – currently £98,599 – to local causes in Makerfield, continuing a practice from his mayoralty. "I did that for nine years as mayor to tackle homelessness in Greater Manchester," he said in a clip posted online.
But the biggest early test may be the North Sea. Labour MPs and climate campaigners are resigned to the approval of the Jackdaw gas field, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, with a final sign-off from regulators and the government expected soon. The more contentious Rosebank oil field, 80 miles off Shetland, is also on the table.
Bill Esterson, Labour MP and chair of the Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, said: "My assumption is that both Jackdaw and Rosebank will go ahead." Even climate advocates have shifted tack. "It's important to show that we understand that people's jobs are on the line," one leading backbench climate MP said. "So I'm picking the battle of Rosebank."
If Burnham approves either project, Trump – who has taken an intense interest in drilling – may view it as a sign of pragmatism. But the new PM-in-waiting has a history of criticising the US president: in 2017 he said he would refuse to meet Trump as a "matter of principle", and after the Capitol riots he declared any UK politician who "gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed".
Now he must decide how to handle a president who has belittled him before he has even taken office.