Donald Trump is prepared to 'tolerate' Andy Burnham – for now. The US president believes the King of the North will not be the last Prime Minister of his presidency, sources say.
Fears over 'extremely liberal' Burnham
Fears are mounting in Washington about potential frictions between the 'extremely liberal' Mr Burnham and the Trump administration. US sources said: 'The thinking in the White House is this Labour government will eventually implode. There’ll be a UK general election and Nigel Farage might be the next Prime Minister.'
Another Trump source claimed that Mr Burnham is already seen as 'weak' because he was appointed by his own party rather than winning a general election. They said: 'There’s a sense that Burnham has no democratic mandate. He’s on a very weak footing.'
Trump's wait-and-see approach
Trump initially dismissed Burnham as 'the mayor of a town' but has since spoken more positively after a call between them 'went very well'. Another White House source said: 'Trump is trying not to say anything bad about the new British Prime Minister to see if he can work with him first. That doesn’t mean he likes him. He is just taking the wait-and-see approach. They both agreed to meet soon without setting a date.'
Concerns over Ed Miliband
But the US State Department is reportedly 'baffled' by the appointment of new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. One official said: 'Miliband could become a problem for the White House and they know it. All you have to do is look at his politics. Green energy, his opposition of using UK bases for US purposes, all things that are going to rub Trump the wrong way. The President is basically p****d that this guy is coming into the fold. But he has better things to do and bigger fish to fry right now.'
Downing Street has declined to comment.
