US President Donald Trump has delivered a blunt assessment of Sir Keir Starmer following the British Prime Minister’s resignation, criticising his record on immigration and energy policy.
In an Oval Office press interaction after Starmer’s announcement on Monday, Trump told reporters he had been critical of the outgoing Prime Minister “only for the sake of” the issues involved.
Trump described Starmer as “a lovely man” and “sort of a friend” but made clear that policy failures had proved politically fatal.
He highlighted “two problems: energy and immigration,” arguing that Starmer’s approach had damaged his own position.
He wished him well while underscoring disagreements over North Sea oil production and net zero priorities.
“The UK buys most of its energy from 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.”
Rather than investing in domestic oil or gas, the UK has opted for “windmills all over the place”, Trump noted.
Trump added that Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” in his handling of relations with Washington.
The US President also claimed that “the people of the UK did not like it that he wasn’t there” to help the US in the Iran war.
He added: “Starmer said worse than no, he said ‘we’ll be there as soon as you win’.
“I said we don’t need you as soon as we win.”
Britain refused the US to use its facilities in Cyprus during operations against Iran, which Trump called a bad move.
The US State Department stressed that the US and the UK “enjoy a close working relationship based on our shared civilisational heritage and we have co-operated with Sir Keir Starmer on our most pressing priorities since he became prime minister in July 2024.”
Their spokesman wished Starmer well and said they were looking forward to working with his successor.
Starmer announced his resignation as Labour leader and Prime Minister on Monday morning following internal party pressure, poor by-election results, and criticism of his government’s handling of migration, economic issues, and climate policy.
He will remain in office until a successor is chosen, with speculation focusing on Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
COMMENT: It's time for Keir Starmer to put his money where his mouth is. If he truly believes in the right of self-determination, he must surely apply the Diego Garcia logic to Cyprus, writes @BogdanosK. https://t.co/YnYTRlO5wr
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 13, 2026
