Donald Trump described Andy Burnham as “a very nice guy” but on “on the liberal side”, as he continued his visit to Ireland.
It was a visit that provided many headlines, with the US President offering his support for Irish unification.
Asked what he thought the Prime Minister made of his comments in support of a united Ireland, the US president said he did not know what Mr Burnham had said.
But he said: “I’ve spoken to him. I think he’s a very nice guy. He tends to be on the liberal side, unfortunately.”
Mr Trump then reiterated his belief that the Prime Minister intended to approve more drilling in the North Sea, saying he was “going to be stopping the stupid windmills”.
The president’s positive comments about Mr Burnham reflect some of his initial comments about Sir Keir Starmer.
In January last year, shortly after returning to the White House, Mr Trump said he had “a very good relationship” with Sir Keir.
He added: “I like him a lot.
“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.”
Relations later became strained, with the pair falling out over issues including the Iran war and resistance to Mr Trump’s desire to annex Greenland.
But as late as June this year, Mr Trump was still describing Sir Keir as “a very nice man” and “sort of a friend of mine”.
During his visit Trump also discussed AI saying on Sunday a lot of “very negative forces” are bringing things up about AI that won’t happen and said that he wanted to make sure that the United States remains the industry leader.
“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,” Trump, at his Ireland golf course, told reporters when asked if the AI industry should slow down or be more regulated.
“We could put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of very negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”
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