New details emerge of Trump's first call with UK PM Andy Burnham after calling him 'extremely liberal'

Yesterday (July 20), Andy Burnham was officially sworn in as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following Kier Starmer's resignation last month. One of the first things on his agenda was a call with the President of the United States.

As soon as Starmer announced his resignation in June, it was Burnham was instantly tipped to replace him, although, Donald Trump revealed at the time he didn't know much about him.

Asked at the time how he felt about the possibility of Burnham stepping up at the time, the POTUS said: “I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town. I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea.”

The 'town' Trump was referring to is the city of Greater Manchester, where Burnham was elected Mayor in May 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

Despite not knowing much about him last month, Trump and Burnham got to know each other over a phone call yesterday, with the new Prime Minister even inviting Trump to the city.

Andy Burnham became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom yesterday (Photo by Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: "The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, shortly after taking office this afternoon.

The statement revealed that the call began with a pleasant exchange between the two leaders, as 'Prime Minister began by congratulating the President on a successful World Cup,' where they both agreed that England, who finished 3rd, had a great tournament.

"The Prime Minister also hoped that he would be able to show the President what Manchester had to offer during a visit in the future," the statement continued.

Andy Burnham then went on to speak about his visions for his new role as Prime Minister, in which he said 'he would be focused on ensuring reindustrialisation up and down the country to ensure good growth in every postcode'.

Trump and Burnham shared their first phone call yesterday (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He also 'underlined his commitment to defence and security and said ensuring the security of the UK and its Allies was at the top of his agenda.'

Concluding, the statement said: "The President then updated on the situation in the Middle East, and the Prime Minister outlined the UK’s commitment to securing the movement of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to support global supply chains and drive down costs for businesses and families across the country."

They both look forward to speaking again soon.

Burnham 'inviting' the President to Manchester is a far cry from his previous comments about the President.

In 2017, he told the Manchester Evening News that he would 'refuse to meet the president out of principle' if he were to attend the city on a State Visit.