Donald Trump meets with Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage
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President-elect Donald Trump met Saturday with Britain鈥檚 Nigel Farage, interim head of the Euroskeptic聽United Kingdom Independence Party and one of the leading 鈥淏rexit鈥 campaigners.
The two politicians spent nearly an hour together at Mr. Trump鈥檚 New York home, Trump Tower, further solidifying a relationship that previously included Mr. Farage speaking at one of Trump鈥檚 campaign rallies.
Farage is the first foreign politician to meet with Trump since the US presidential election, with British Prime Minister Theresa May not due to follow suit until early next year. He has been dismissed as an 鈥渋rrelevance鈥 by some senior British politicians, yet there is now pressure for Prime Minister May and her cabinet to reconsider that position, with Farage himself saying that he hopes 鈥渟ense prevails鈥 so he can 鈥減rovide introductions and ... start the necessary process of mending fences.鈥
鈥淚 was ,鈥 wrote Farage in The Telegraph, referring to his meeting with Trump. 鈥淲e sat down and talked about Brexit, his victorious campaign and how the world was changing. What I saw was a thoughtful and reflective Donald Trump.鈥
May has previously described Trump as 鈥渄ivisive鈥 and 鈥渨rong鈥 with respect to his proposed ban on Muslims, and Farage has offered to mediate between the two, acting as the 鈥渞esponsible adult鈥 in any meeting, urging Trump to 鈥渟chmooze鈥 with the prime minister.
"But don't聽touch her聽for goodness sake," he added.
In his Telegraph piece, Farage said that 鈥渢o a man and woman they are anglophiles,鈥 referring to the key players in Trump鈥檚 team, as well as talking of Trump鈥檚 enthusiasm at the suggestion of reinstalling a bust of Britain鈥檚 wartime leader, Winston Churchill, in the Oval Office. Farage felt that Britain would be 鈥渁t the front of the queue,鈥 in terms of relations with the US.
Indeed, in a diplomatic telegram published in The Sunday Times (London), Britain鈥檚 ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, concurred, saying that Trump, as an 鈥渙utsider and an unknown quantity,鈥 will 鈥渂e open to outside influence if pitched right.鈥
鈥淎nd having, we believe, with his team than have the rest of Washington diplomatic corps,鈥 added Sir Darroch, 鈥渨e should be well placed to do this.鈥
Nigel Farage has lauded Trump鈥檚 victory as further evidence, on the heels of 鈥淏rexit,鈥 of what voters 鈥溾 are demanding: 鈥渘ation state democracy, proper border controls and to be in charge of their own lives.鈥 He speaks of the closer relationship he now envisages between Britain and the United States, now that President Obama, whom he described as a 鈥渓oathsome individual,鈥 is leaving the White House.
But how much of a role he plays in official relations between the two nations remains to be seen.
This report contains material from Reuters.