Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of the UK’s North Sea oil policy, saying that windmills "put you out of business".
The US president voiced his disapproval of the country’s approach as the government transitions towards renewable energy sources.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump revealed he has been advising Sir Keir Starmer to facilitate further oil extraction in the North Sea.
When questioned whether European nations should increase their purchases of oil and gas from the United States, Mr Trump affirmed they should.
“And what they should be doing is using the North Sea,” he added.
“I can tell you, UK, I’ve been telling that to your Prime Minister.
“(The) UK should open up the North Sea oil, one of the greatest in the world, and they should use it instead of buying oil from Norway and other places that use the same source.
“They should use it. And they’re not doing it. They’re doing windmills and windmills, windmills do one thing, you know what they do? Put you out of business.”
The US president has long voiced his dislike of wind turbines, particularly for offshore wind energy, having launched a battle with the Scottish Government to stop a development which was visible from his Aberdeenshire golf course.
Just two days ago, Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform in a seemingly unprompted post, writing: “Europe is desperate for Energy, and yet the United Kingdom refuses to open North Sea Oil, one of the greatest fields in the World. Tragic!!!”
He urged the country to “drill baby drill”.
The US president also said the UK and other European allies who refused to get involved in the Iran war have “got themselves a problem”.
“We, we spent trillions and trillions of dollars on Nato, and when I asked them to get involved in a much smaller situation, which is (the Strait of) Hormuz and Iran, they weren’t there for us,” he said on Thursday.
“Remember what I said. They weren’t there. None of them, they weren’t there.
“So we were there on Ukraine. It would have never happened if I were president, but nevertheless, when they’ve had problems over the years, we were there.
“When we asked them to get involved on a very minor skirmish, by comparison to what it could be, they weren’t there. So I don’t think they’d be there for a large skirmish. And therefore, I think they’ve got themselves a problem.”
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