DONALD Trump has urged the UK Government to drill for more oil and criticised net zero strategies.
The US president took to his social media website Truth Social to criticise the UK Labour Government’s net-zero policies and attack “costly and unsightly windmills”.
Trump has been vocally opposed to wind turbines for many years.
The Scottish Greens said that Trump's comments "must be ignored" by UK politicians.
He wrote: “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 incentivise modernised drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken.”
Trump, who owns a golf course in Aberdeenshire, said there was a “century of drilling left” where Aberdeen would be “the hub”.
He also criticised the UK’s “old-fashioned tax system” and said it was a disincentive to drilling and if it was encouraged then “Energy Costs would go WAY DOWN, and fast!”
Oil and gas prices are determined by global energy prices. It has repeatedly been confirmed that drilling for more oil would not lower household bills.
The Scottish Greens urged the UK Government to ignore Trump's remarks and continue with its net zero policies.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Household energy bills have been volatile because of our over-reliance on fossil fuels, and it’s critical that both governments cut fossil fuel consumption, increase investment in clean energy, and break the artificial link between gas prices and electricity so that bills come down faster.
"Scotland’s renewable industry is generating cheap, clean, abundant power, but households are not getting the benefit in the bills they pay.
“Donald Trump’s dangerous ideas must be ignored. Climate breakdown already costs the average Scottish household over £3,000 a year. Failure to tackle the climate emergency would accelerate the damage, and keep people dependent on volatile energy prices.
“There’s no surprise that a corrupt billionaire politician is putting the profits of fossil fuel multinationals ahead of the common good."
"After 60 years of drilling, the UK has burned most of its gas and what’s left is oil, most of which the UK exports, which contributes nothing to making sure the UK has an affordable supply of energy," she said.
"The reason the UK’s energy bills are high is because of our reliance on expensive and volatile gas, as OFGEM confirmed this morning.
"The way to reduce bills is by shifting to homegrown renewable energy, offshore wind in particular, which the UK has in abundance. More oil and gas drilling would only lock us into an expensive energy source for far longer than is necessary.
"Trump is clearly looking after the interests of US oil and gas firms, which have made billions during the energy crisis, while millions of households in the UK have struggled with soaring bills.
"His team is shot through with oil and gas interests that want the rest of the world, the UK included, to slow its transition to clean energy and remain hooked on oil and gas for years to come just so they can keep profiting.”
It is not the first time Trump has criticised the UK Government's approach to oil and gas.
In January, he said that Britain is “making a very big mistake” on its energy policy.
In October 2024, the UK Government said it would raise a so-called windfall tax on companies drilling in the North Sea to 38% from 35%.
Oil companies have been making a gradual exit from the North Sea for decades as the basin slowly gets used up.
Production from the region peaked at 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 1999 to about 1.3m today.
The UK Government has said it wants to decarbonise the power system by 2030, meaning reducing the use of gas-fired power plants and replacing it with renewable energy.
The plan includes ramping up new wind turbine projects to quadruple energy generation from offshore wind over the next half-decade.
Trump has previously been involved in a long-running campaign against wind turbines off the Aberdeenshire coast, which he claimed would spoil the view from his Balmedie golf course.
His company was ordered to pay almost £250,000 to the Scottish Government after the dispute over the 11-turbine wind farm scheme.
The US president once claimed wind turbines “destroy everybody’s property values, kill all the birds.”
It comes as Reform UK are reportedly attempting to woo oil and gas companies with promises of tax cuts and slashing regulations, a move dubbed straight out of the “Trump playbook”.
