Donald Trump has hit out at Keir Starmer’s taxes on North Sea oil just hours after praising the prime minister when the two met at the US president’s Scottish golf course.
Mr Trump said the resource is a “treasure chest for the United Kingdom” as he urged Starmer to ”incentivise the drillers”.
It comes less than a day after Trump described Sir Keir as “strong” and “respected” in an impromptu press conference on Monday, even saying that he wanted “to make the prime minister happy”.
Now the president has used his Truth Social network to attack North Sea oil taxes, which he said make “no sense”.
He posted: “North Sea Oil is a TREASURE CHEST for the United Kingdom. The taxes are so high, however, that it makes no sense.
“They have essentially told drillers and oil companies that “we don’t want you.” Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people!”
The comments will come as a blow to the prime minister, who was seen to have had a successful meeting with the president.
In a hugely significant move, Trump even removed a key obstacle to Sir Keir officially recognising a Palestinian state, as the prime minister prepares to discuss the issue at a crucial cabinet meeting later.
On Monday, the Republican leader also advised the prime minister to cut taxes and tackle immigration to beat Farage’s Reform UK party at the next election.
Mr Trump said: “The one who cuts taxes the most, the one who gives you the lowest energy prices, the one who keeps you out of wars, tend to win.
“Low taxes, keep us safe, keep us out of wars… And in your case, a big immigration component,” he added.
He also said that he thought he had won his most recent election to the White House because of immigration.
Earlier during his visit to Scotland, he praised the city of Aberdeen as the oil capital of Europe and repeated his long opposition to wind turbines, calling them “ugly monsters”.
In May, Mr Trump, who has been vocal in his opposition to wind turbines for many years, used another post on Truth Social to say: “Our negotiated deal with the United Kingdom is working out well for all.
“I strongly recommend to them, however, that in order to get their energy costs down, they stop with the costly and unsightly windmills, and incentivize modernized drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil [lie] waiting to be taken.”
Mr Trump, who owns a golf course in Aberdeenshire, added that there was a “century of drilling left, with Aberdeen as the hub”.
The US president has previously ranted about “big windmills” that “destroy everybody’s property values, kill all the birds”.
He has also claimed that they are unreliable energy sources, once bizarrely saying, “and then, all of a sudden, it stops; the wind and the televisions go off. And your wives and husbands say, ‘Darling, I want to watch Donald Trump on television tonight. But the wind stopped blowing and I can’t watch. There’s no electricity in the house, darling’.”
