Getty ImagesDonald Trump has said Scotland has “the ugliest windmills I’ve ever seen” when asked his opinion about wind power.
The US President was taking questions from journalists as he hosted Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire.
He said the “ugly monsters” were “destroying the beauty” of Scottish fields and waterways.
“Wind is a disaster,” Trump said, “Wind is the most expensive form of energy. When we go to Aberdeen you’ll see some of the ugliest windmills you’ve ever seen.
“They’re the height of a 50-story building. You could take 1,000 times more energy from a hole in the ground. It’s called oil and gas, and you have it in the North Sea.
“You are paying in Scotland, and the UK, and all over place, where they gave them massive subsidies to have these ugly monsters all over the place.
Trump said he had restricted the construction of windmills in the United States because they “kill all your birds”.
He also claimed that wind needs “massive subsidy”.
However, Starmer said the UK “believes in a mix” of energy sources – including wind.
“Oil and gas is going to be with us for a very long time,” Starmer said.
“And that’ll be part of the mix, but there will also be wind, solar and increasingly nuclear as we go forward.
“The most important thing is that we have control of our energy and have every independence and security.”
The Prime Minister said the pair had discussed that energy prices in the UK are “too high”, which is why his Labour Government are taking measures to reduce prices.
But in the long run, he said the only options is to “take control of energy”.
“And that’s what we’re doing,” Starmer said.
The two leaders will travel north to Trump’s other golf resort in Menie, Aberdeenshire, on Monday afternoon.
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