Trump says Aberdeen dances as UK vows to open North Sea oil

Trump the president tied Britain's fortunes to drilling in a Truth Social post, though the man he named as prime minister, Andy Burnham, does not hold that office.

First Published: July 19, 2026, 6:13 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump claimed the people of Aberdeen are dancing in the streets over a British pledge to fully open North Sea oil.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil! It is one of the Greatest Sources of quality Oil on Earth, has hundreds of years of Capacity left, with much not even found yet, and will make the United Kingdom, from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World! Britain pays Norway Billions of Dollars a year to buy its Oil, which they get from a less valuable part of the North Sea — How ridiculous is that! Also, word is that the UK is going to move the old and horrible looking windmills, which loom over and destroy the City of Aberdeen. That will be a big day for the Country, and will be very much appreciated by everybody. Such great potential in the UK, but it all starts with OPENING NORTH SEA OIL. WE LOVE YOU SCOTLAND! Trump”

Trump named Andy Burnham as the new prime minister. Burnham is the mayor of Greater Manchester and does not lead the British government. The president said Britain pays Norway billions of dollars a year for oil drawn from a less valuable part of the North Sea. He also claimed the United Kingdom would move wind turbines that he said tower over Aberdeen.

The city sits at the center of a real fight over the future of North Sea energy. Aberdeen is Europe’s oil and gas capital, and fears have grown for the region as government policy shifts toward renewables according to independent.co.uk. Voters in the Aberdeen South Westminster seat went to the polls in a by-election on June 18, a contest that followed the resignation of former Scottish National Party Westminster leader Stephen Flynn according to independent.co.uk.

The stakes fall hardest on the workers who supply the offshore fields. Bosses at Oil States Industries, an Aberdeen oil and gas firm, said 75% of the equipment they sell now goes abroad according to independent.co.uk. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who visited the firm, argued that lost contracts mean lost jobs and lost expertise. Producers and service companies would gain from expanded drilling, while campaigners for the government’s net zero targets would lose ground.

“We have the best candidate, we have the best plan for Aberdeen, that is to get Britain drilling again,” Badenoch said to the Press Association.

The Scottish National Party rejects that framing. Richard Thomson, the party’s Aberdeen South candidate, said £400 billion has flowed from the North Sea to fund the Treasury and that Scotland should control its own licensing decisions according to independent.co.uk. The dispute has run through recent Scottish politics, and the Conservatives fell to just 12 seats and fifth place at Holyrood in the most recent Scottish Parliament vote according to independent.co.uk.

For an American reader, the claim matters because Trump ties his push for more drilling abroad to his energy agenda at home, where he has pressed allies to lift output and lower prices.

Has this happened before? This has happened before, as Trump has repeatedly urged Britain to drill the North Sea and remove wind turbines near his Scottish golf properties, blending personal grievance with energy policy.

The next decision rests with the elected British government and its regulators, not with Andy Burnham. Officials have not announced a date for any new policy to fully open North Sea licensing.

The North Sea has drawn outside fascination before, as happened with earlier energy booms. Commercial oil first flowed from British North Sea fields in 1975, and by the mid 1980s the basin had turned the United Kingdom into a net oil exporter and reshaped the Aberdeen economy. Production peaked near 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day around 1999 before entering a long decline. The men who built Aberdeen’s boom saw fortunes rise and fall with a resource that no political speech could keep flowing forever.