Donald Trump has hailed ‘smart’ Rishi Sunak following the Prime Minister’s weakening of Net Zero measures.
The former US president praised Mr Sunak for having ‘substantially rolled back’ climate action.
The PM last week announced he was pushing back the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035.
He also weakened plans to phase out the installation of gas boilers by 2035.
Mr Trump used his social media network, known as Truth Social, to welcome Mr Sunak’s action.
The former president said: ‘Prime Minister Sunak of the United Kingdom has very substantially rolled back the ridiculous ‘climate mandates’ that the United States is pushing on everyone, especially itself.
‘I always knew Sunak was smart, that he wasn’t going to destroy and bankrupt his nation for fake climate alarmists that don’t have a clue.’
He added: ‘Congratulations to Prime Minister Sunak for recognizing this SCAM before it was too late! ‘
Mr Sunak has claimed his announcements on delaying Net Zero measures are being taken to avoid a a public ‘backlash’ against climate commitments.
In a speech in Downing Street last week, the PM insisted the UK was already ahead of other nations in reducing emissions and could not impose ‘unacceptable costs’ on British families.
‘The risk here to those of us who care about reaching Net Zero, as I do, is simple: if we continue down this path we risk losing the consent of the British people,’ he said.
‘And the resulting backlash would not just be against specific policies but against the wider mission itself, meaning we might never achieve our goal.’
Mr Sunak insisted he was standing by the legally binding goal of hitting Net Zero by 2050 despite making a series of changes.
Under the 2050 Net Zero objective – signed into law by Theresa May when she was PM – the UK is legally obliged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent from 1990 levels over the next 27 years.
The PM detailed his plans to the public on Wednesday after putting them to Cabinet ministers in a hastily arranged call in response to a leak of his plans to the BBC.
Mr Sunak faced staunch criticism from within his own party to his action, while he also angered climate campaigners, the car industry and former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Trump is widely expected to be the Republican candidate for next year’s US presidential election.
But his campaign is being threatened by a series of legal cases against him, including the investigation into efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.