Britain’s “special relationship” with the US is under further strain after Donald Trump said the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas profits was a “very big mistake”.

Following Tesla owner Elon Musk’s social media remarks on UK court rulings, the incoming US president commented on the North Sea taxes on his Truth Social media platform.

Mr Trump has called on Britain to “open up the North Sea” and “get rid of windmills” — a reference to the UK’s offshore wind farms that he opposed when they were erected opposite his Aberdeenshire golf course.

He has pledged to revive US oil and gas production and campaigned with the pledge “drill, baby, drill”.

Labour has extended the Conservative party’s taxes on oil and gas company profits and is committed to banning all new drilling and exploration licences in a move towards cleaner energy.

In October the windfall tax, or energy profits levy, was raised from 35% to 38%, increasing the headline rate of tax on North Sea oil and gas profits to 78%, and extended until 2030.

It was reported that Mr Trump’s comments were linked to US firm Apache announcing that the tax has forced it to withdraw its operations in the area. Apache, now known as APA Corporation, made its announcement in early November.

It plans to cease all production in its UK operations by December 2029 because of what it called “the onerous financial impact of the energy profits levy”. Offshore Energies UK has warned that the windfall tax rise could result in a loss of £13 billion to the UK economy from 2025 to 2029 and put 35,000 jobs at risk.

Relations between Mr Trump and the UK Labour government were strained in October when it emerged that 100 of Sir Keir Starmer’s supporters had travelled to the US to volunteer for Kamala Harris.

The Prime Minister has made efforts to repair the damage, but Mr Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk has posted a series of comments on his X platform taunting Sir Keir.

This week he accused his, during his time at the Crown Prosecution Service, of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls, and called for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.

Today the Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded to the comments by telling reporters: “Some of the criticisms Elon Musk has made I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed.

“But we’re willing to work with Elon Musk who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries tackle these serious issues.

“If he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we’d welcome that.”

However, the growing friction between the two nations is fuelling support for Reform UK whose leader Nigel Farage said that Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, is in talks about making a donation to the party. The two men met at Trump’s Florida retreat last month.

The bigger concern is around the threat of tariffs. During the US election campaign Mr Trump said he would impose tariffs of up to 20% on imports, which would mean a £21.5 billion hit to the UK and a rise in inflation.

Sir Keir has dispatched Lord Mandelson, the Labour veteran and a former European trade commissioner, to the US as the UK’s new ambassador to placate the White House and rebuild relations with the world’s biggest economy.