Donald Trump has branded Andy Burnham "extremley liberal" in his first comments about the man expected to be the UK's next prime minister.
The US president said the pair are "probably of a different persuasion" while speaking from the White House on Wednesday night.
Mr Trump was asked if he wanted to be the first person on the new UK prime minister's list to visit London but he said "no".
He added: "I think we're probably of a different persuasion. He's very liberal but you know I got along well with Starmer. I disagreed with Starmer..."
Asked at the White House what he knew about Mr Burnham, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town.
He repeated comments that the former Greater Manchester mayor is "extremely liberal".
The US president added: "So that means he probably won't open up the North Sea.
He then told reporters how he had told Sir Keir to drill oil from the "loaded" basin in "dying" Britain
The so-called leader of the free world said: “I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice. I said, open up the North Sea, go to Aberdeen, which was the hottest city of the whole continent.
“It was the oil city of Europe, and they closed everything. It was terrible. I couldn’t believe it.
"The North Sea is loaded. I have had every oil company come to see me ‘Sir. could you give us access to the UK? We would do anything to drill in the North Sea’.
“The amazing thing is, they buy their oil from Norway, which gets the oil from the North Sea. Think of it, and they pay a big premium.
“Norway’s got now two trillion dollars in the bank, and the UK is dying, so they should open up the North Sea, and it’s an easy one, and a lot of good things are going to happen. It’s among the greatest deals in the world.”
Mr Trump also spoke at his disappointment at the UK’s response to the Iran conflict, but noted Sir Keir had “now gone”.
The president had repeatedly lambasted the Prime Minister over his energy policy and for not allowing further oil drilling in the North Sea, while permitting wind turbines.
