Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Andy Burnham to approve new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea, before turning to a racist rant about immigration to the UK.
Speaking at a White House Q&A, 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 for more drilling in the North Sea stems from a decades-old feud with the Scottish government, after they approved a wind farm near his Aberdeenshire golf course.
Racist Diatribe About Immigration
Later in the Oval Office Q&A, Trump was asked if he and Burnham had discussed immigration during their phone call last week. He said: 'I did, briefly. 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 in far-right and neo-Nazi propaganda. He frequently employs 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.'
Last month, during a speech in Normandy commemorating the D-Day anniversary, Trump's 'Secretary of War' Pete Hegseth used similar language, comparing migrant boat crossings to the Nazi invasion. 'Sadly, today different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies,' Hegseth said. 'Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?'
