UK's new PM Andy Burnham says he'll stand up to Trump if necessary, as he sets tone for trans-Atlantic relationship

UK / USA: Andy Burnham, the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister, has stated that he will not be a pushover in dealing with US President Donald Trump, saying he would “call out” Trump if it was in Britain’s national interest to do so, while describing their first phone conversation as warm and constructive.

Speaking to the BBC in an interview aired Sunday, Burnham said he had spoken to Trump on Monday when he officially took on the role, describing it as “a good exchange” and saying he found the US president “warm.”

“We will continue to build the relationship as we go forward,” Burnham said, as quoted by CNBC.

However, when pressed by BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg on whether he would call Trump out if it was the right thing to do, Burnham did not hesitate. “Of course,” he said. “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly.”

“I can’t at any point say that I won’t take a different opinion from him, that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain,” he added.

Where Trump and Burnham already agree

The relationship has an early point of alignment in energy policy. Trump has welcomed Burnham’s plan to fast-track oil and gas exploration in already-licensed fields in the North Sea, writing on Truth Social that North Sea oil was “invaluable” and that it would take the UK “from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World.”

This contrasts sharply with Trump’s treatment of Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, whom he criticised in April for pursuing wind energy. “All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof,” Trump told The Telegraph, as quoted by CNBC.

Starmer announced last month that he was stepping down, after two years marked by policy U-turns, staffing scandals, and a dramatic loss in Britain’s local elections that triggered internal calls for his resignation.

Defence spending: The unresolved question

One of the bigger questions hanging over Burnham’s early weeks in office is how quickly the UK will move toward spending 3% of GDP on defence, which was a benchmark Trump has pushed NATO allies to meet.

Burnham declined to commit to a timeline, but his appointment of John Healey as Chancellor is being read as a signal of seriousness on the issue. Healey had resigned as Starmer’s defence minister just weeks earlier, citing his belief that the government was “unwilling to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country.”

“I appointed my new chancellor very aware of what he had said about the critical importance of defence spending,” Burnham was quoted as saying by CNBC. “The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded.”

Starmer had announced in June an extra £15 billion (S$22 billion) in defence spending over four years as part of the UK’s Defence Investment Plan, intended to lift annual spending to £79.1 billion, equivalent to 2.7% of GDP, by 2029. The plan covers military capability, the nuclear deterrent, cybersecurity, drones, and AI.

But analysts have flagged a constraint that neither warm words nor political will can easily overcome: the UK carries high levels of public debt and the highest borrowing costs among its G7 peers, which could limit how aggressively Burnham can expand defence spending beyond what Starmer had already committed to.

A relationship to watch

Burnham enters Downing Street at a moment when the trans-Atlantic relationship is under unusual strain, with Trump’s criticism of European and NATO allies, including the UK, for not contributing enough to the US-led war on Iran, and his tariff agenda has created friction with the EU and beyond.

Whether Burnham’s combination of initial warmth with Trump, alignment on North Sea energy, and stated willingness to push back when necessary adds up to a workable relationship, or whether the inevitable moments of disagreement test it, will be one of the defining foreign policy questions of his early premiership.

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