United States President Donald Trump has reacted to the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, attributing the Labour leader’s downfall to what he described as failed energy and immigration policies.
Trump made the remarks on Monday while responding to questions from journalists at the White House, shortly after Starmer announced his decision to step down as leader of the Labour Party following a loss of confidence within his party.
Asked for his thoughts on Starmer’s resignation and who he would like to see as Britain’s next prime minister, Trump struck a conciliatory tone but maintained his criticism of the outgoing leader’s policy choices.
“I was critical only from the side because I think he’s a lovely man, but I said you’re really messing up energy. You have windmills all over the place,” Trump said.
The US president argued that the United Kingdom had failed to take advantage of its vast oil resources in the North Sea while relying on imported energy.
“In the meantime, you have the North Sea oil and they won’t let anybody drill. It’s one of the great fields in the world. And they haven’t even found one.”
He continued:
“You know that the UK buys much of its energy. You know where? Norway. You know where they get their oil? The North Sea. The UK has a much better portion of the North Sea. They don’t want to do it for environmental purposes. Okay.”
Despite his criticism, Trump described Starmer as a friend and wished him well.
“And I told him he’s a very nice man. I mean, sort of a friend of mine,” he said.
Trump also revisited past disagreements with the former British leader over NATO-related issues, claiming Starmer initially refused to allow the United States to use a British island for military operations.
“He was not good to us with NATO. He said we can’t use the island to land. That was the first for a couple of weeks. He said, well, but ultimately I gave it. That was a bad move that hurt him badly.”
The US president concluded that two major issues ultimately undermined Starmer’s leadership.
“I wish him well, but he’s got two problems, energy and immigration and crime, but energy and immigration. You know, he’s really hurt himself very, very badly.”
Starmer announced his resignation earlier on Monday in an address outside 10 Downing Street, saying he had accepted Labour’s verdict on his leadership and would step aside after the party elects a successor, paving the way for a new prime minister before Parliament reconvenes in September.
