President Donald Trump on Sunday said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “will resign” and ripped the Labour leader over his immigration and North Sea oil policies.
“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!”
Trump’s comments come amid rumors that Starmer will announce his departure as early as Monday, but there has been no announcement from Starmer himself. Calls for Starmer’s resignation have grown over the last month as the Labour Party lost hundreds of council seats in recent elections.
While calls for Starmer’s stepping down range a variety of issues in the United Kingdom, Trump pointed to two topics he has publicly disagreed with: closing drilling in the North Sea and lax immigration policies.
The war in Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane, which in turn sent gas prices in the U.K. soaring. Trump urged Starmer to resume deep-sea drilling in the North Sea to ramp up gas and oil production in order to calm markets.
Starmer didn’t budge and instead held fast in heavily regulating new exploration of the North Sea, placing a new ban on new oil and gas exploration licenses to support climate targets.
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As for immigration, something the president and his administration have taken a hard-hitting approach to in the United States, Trump has repeatedly condemned Starmer’s immigration policies as “horrible.”
Trump was expected to confront Starmer at a recent G7 summit after violent protests erupted in Belfast over immigration. The Trump administration has viewed the U.K. as a “transition point” for illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and has continually pressed Starmer to address the issue.