In the event Burnham does replace Keir Starmer, it would likely fall to him to help mend the splintered relationship between Washington and Westminster.
Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office after Starmer resigned Monday underscored how far relations have deteriorated.
“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,” said Trump, who has repeatedly urged the U.K. to expand its drilling in the North Sea.
But the discord between the two leaders stretches far beyond disagreements over the conflict in the Middle East.
The U.S. President’s verbal attacks on the NATO alliance have also caused friction. At the start of the year, Starmer condemned Trump's false claims that non-American NATO troops “stayed a little back” from the front line during the war in Afghanistan. He referred to the remarks as “insulting and, frankly, appalling.”
“Whoever occupies No. 10, and whoever is in the White House, need to be able to do business with each other, and they need to be able to get on in order to do that business,” Andrew Roe-Crines, a senior lecturer in political communication at the University of Liverpool, tells TIME.
In one of his most direct criticisms of the President, Burnham argued last year that Trump’s return to office had shaken global politics.
He also criticized the views of Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party and a longtime ally of Trump.
Burnham’s public criticism of Trump dates back to the President's first term in office.
“We have to look closer to home, and say, well, how about the parties that have represented the areas that are feeling this? Are we doing enough in representing them, and what are we doing to respond to their concerns?” argued Burnham.
In 2017, Burnham rejected the idea of potentially meeting Trump during a U.K. visit, describing the decision as “a matter of principle” after the President reposted videos shared by far-right figures in Britain.
Burnham branded U.S. politics “polarized” and “poisonous”
"Politics is getting more polarized. And the path we're on, if we are not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America," he warned on June 13. "A polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don't work together anymore."
The newly-elected MP returned to the topic in the first rally after his by-election victory.
“In the U.K., we have traditionally had a political culture where it is possible for ideological enemies to get on as friends,” Roe-Crines explains. “That's the kind of thing that Burnham says that we need to retain, whereas in the U.S., I would say that ship has arguably sailed.”
When Trump returned to the White House, Starmer sought to cultivate ties, notably presenting him with a letter from King Charles III inviting him for a second state visit to the U.K.
“Normally you would want a good relationship with the U.S., but if you can’t agree with them, then say that as well. That’s the only way I think to deal with him,” he said.
Roe-Crines argues that Burnham may even have a “softening of the language about Trump.”
Burnham has criticized the U.S. approach to the Iran war
While still mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham was openly critical of the early stages of the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive that killed Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Burnham said he had spoken with an Iranian national who told him that “Iranian public opinion is not as straightforward as people think.”
“If there's no plan for the aftermath, well, where does it then go?” he said, adding that “care is needed to think through and not get swept up into the moment.”
The agreement remains fragile, however, with fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatening to undermine one of its key provisions—a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hold a press conference at the conclusion of a state visit in Aylesbury, England, on Sept. 18, 2025. —Leon Neal––Getty ImagesBurnham may be open to hearing one of Trump’s key arguments regarding the U.K. and energy
But he has yet to fully detail his plans for climate action on the national level.
“The U.K. has a much better portion of the North Sea. They don't want to do it for environmental purposes,” he said.
Starmer’s Labour government came into power aiming to phase out fossil fuels from the U.K.’s electricity generation by 2030.
Burnham has signaled he isn’t against reconsidering British access to North Sea oil and gas. “I’ve got something of an open mind, you know. I don’t have a sort of fixed position,” he said in early June.
Elsewhere, Burnham has repeatedly argued for bringing energy and water "back under stronger public control.”
TIME has reached out to Andy Burnham’s office for comment.
Hence then, the article about what has andy burnham britain s likely next prime minister said about trump was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( What Has Andy Burnham, Britain's Likely Next Prime Minister, Said About Trump? )
Also on site :