Donald Trump piled more pressure on Andy Burnham to open up the North Sea for oil and gas drilling, before launching into a racist diatribe about the UK.
Trump's remarks on Burnham and drilling
Trump seized upon reports that Burnham is considering granting new licences for drilling — an issue the US President has long been vocal about. Asked for his impressions of the new Prime Minister, Trump said: "He did say one good thing, he said he's going to open up the North Sea. If he does that, you're going to be a wealthy country, if he does that reasonably." Trump's desire to see more drilling stems from a decades-old feud with the Scottish government after they approved a wind farm near his Aberdeenshire golf course.
Racist diatribe on immigration
Later in the Oval Office Q&A, Trump was asked if he and Burnham had discussed immigration during their phone call last week. "I did, briefly," he said. "He's going to have to mention it because it's killing your country." He then repeatedly described immigration to the UK as an "invasion", a narrative long used by far-right and neo-Nazi propaganda. He has frequently used language related to the "great replacement" conspiracy theory, which claims white populations and western culture are being deliberately diluted through migration.
In the Oval Office, Trump said: "They're coming from Africa, they're coming from South America, they're coming from different parts of Asia, and they're invading Europe. They're invading Europe! It's an invasion. And the UK is a prime suspect."
Administration's flirtation with white nationalist imagery
Trump's administration has long flirted with white supremacist and neo-Nazi imagery and rhetoric. Last August, the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Twitter account posted a recruitment tweet for ICE agents reading: "Which way, American man?" — a clear reference to "Which way, western man", the title of a 1978 book by neo-Nazi William Gayley Simpson. In October, DHS posted: "America for Americans. We are asleep no longer." — a phrase used by white supremacist groups including the Ku Klux Klan. Another ICE recruitment ad prominently featured the phrase "We'll have our home again," an anthem popular among white nationalist groups.
