US President Donald Trump criticized outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday after the Labor leader announced he would resign, saying he had “really hurt himself” over energy, immigration and his handling of relations with Washington.
“I think he’s a beautiful man,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event, before accusing Starmer of mishandling Britain’s energy policy by failing to exploit North Sea oil and allowing “windmills all over the country.”
“The UK buys a lot of its energy. You know where? Norway. You know where they get their oil? The North Sea,” Trump said.
“The UK has a much better part of the North Sea – they don’t want to do that for environmental purposes.”
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Trump, who had predicted Starmer’s departure in a Truth Social post, said the British leader was “kind of a friend of mine” but had not been supportive enough of the United States on NATO and the war in Iran.
The leaders had clashed over the use of British military bases in Cyprus to carry out attacks on Iran, with the US leader expressing disappointment that Britain had taken so long to approve a US request to use RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to bomb Iranian targets.
“He said we can’t use the island to land. That was a first,” Trump said, adding that Starmer eventually relented but “it was a bad move” that “hurt him badly.”
“I wish him well,” Trump said. “But he has two problems: energy and immigration — and crime. But energy and immigration. He’s really hurt himself very, very badly.”
Starmer announced on Monday that he would step down as Labor leader but remain prime minister during an orderly transition, following months of pressure from party lawmakers and the collapse of the local authority following poor local and regional election results.
Veteran Labor politician Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, is widely expected to succeed him upon returning to Parliament, potentially making him Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.
