Overview
- Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s one-time chief of staff, recounted that President Donald Trump opened their first call by complaining about Britain’s “too many windmills” and then described birds falling and foxes becoming “fat” from eating them.
- McSweeney said officials in the room were barely able to contain their laughter while Starmer kept his composure and did not laugh.
- McSweeney told the story in his first public interview on a BBC podcast and framed Trump as trying to be funny rather than only airing a policy gripe.
- The anecdote has been widely reported by UK and US outlets and is being used to illustrate both Trump’s conversational style and his persistent public opposition to wind turbines.
- McSweeney’s interview also covered other retrospective critiques of the Starmer government, but the ‘fat foxes’ anecdote is the new, attention-grabbing disclosure and it has produced no reported policy or official correction.