Donald Trump publicly praised Andy Burnham's plans to speed up oil and gas drilling in the North Sea on July 19, 2026, just hours before Burnham was set to become UK Prime Minister. Trump's endorsement was reported by both The Telegraph and the Press Association. The Independent noted that Trump's comments came during the final hours before Burnham took office, making them feel like a preview of incoming UK energy policy.

The BBC reported on July 18 that Burnham planned to announce new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea after becoming prime minister. This would be a change from recent UK energy policy, which has been moving toward gradually closing down North Sea oil operations. The reason is the UK's commitment to "net-zero," which means the country aims to balance the greenhouse gases it produces with the amount it removes, so the net addition to the atmosphere is zero. Burnham's plan to approve new drilling suggests he is prioritizing domestic energy production over strict climate goals, at least for now.

The New York Times, in a June 26 article about European heat waves and climate politics, had already pointed to the growing push for resuming North Sea drilling. The article quoted the rallying cry "We need to get Britain drilling again," a phrase now linked to the policy direction Burnham appears ready to follow. The Times placed this sentiment within a wider European picture where extreme heat events are both intensifying climate debates and, in some cases, pushing leaders to double down on domestic energy production.

Trump's praise for Burnham carries an interesting contradiction. On June 29, Channel 4 News reported that Trump had called Burnham "extremely liberal." That label does not fit neatly with Trump's excitement about Burnham's drilling plans. A conservative American politician cheering a British politician he has called liberal for expanding fossil fuel production shows how energy policy is blurring traditional political lines on both sides of the Atlantic.

Channel 4 News also pointed out a practical problem with the drilling rhetoric. According to their reporting, most North Sea oil and gas fields are already privately licensed. That means the UK government cannot simply "open up" the North Sea for quick drilling. Any policy change would have to work through the private companies that already hold the licenses, go through regulatory and environmental approvals, and deal with the fact that some fields may be near the end of their productive life. In simple terms, announcing a plan and actually getting more oil flowing are two very different things.

These threads come together in a complex policy moment. A new prime minister wants more North Sea drilling. A former US president is cheering him on. And Europe is experiencing heat waves that climate scientists link to greenhouse gas emissions. The climate angle is hard to ignore: the push for more drilling is happening at the same time as the extreme weather that climate policy is supposed to help prevent.

The bigger question is whether arguments about energy security can win out over climate commitments and still keep voters on board. For people who follow energy markets and climate policy, the key things to watch are what specific rules Burnham's government will use, how long new drilling approvals might take given the private licensing limits, and how climate advocates and international partners react to a policy that seems to go against the UK's legally binding net-zero goals. Trump's endorsement could also add diplomatic tension, tying UK energy decisions to the broader US-UK political relationship at a time when trade and security cooperation between the two countries is always under negotiation.