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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Farage first UK politician to meet Trump since election | Farage first UK politician to meet Trump since election |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Nigel Farage has become the first British politician to meet Donald Trump since he became US president-elect. | Nigel Farage has become the first British politician to meet Donald Trump since he became US president-elect. |
| A UKIP spokesman said the interim party leader discussed "freedom and winning" with Mr Trump on a visit to Trump Tower in New York. | A UKIP spokesman said the interim party leader discussed "freedom and winning" with Mr Trump on a visit to Trump Tower in New York. |
| Mr Trump's spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said the meeting had been "very productive". | Mr Trump's spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said the meeting had been "very productive". |
| Downing Street said Mr Farage had "no role" in the government's relationship with the incoming US administration. | Downing Street said Mr Farage had "no role" in the government's relationship with the incoming US administration. |
| Speaking after the meeting, Mr Farage said: "It was a great honour to spend time with Donald Trump. He was relaxed, and full of good ideas. | |
| "I'm confident he will be a good president. His support for the US-UK relationship is very strong. This is a man with whom we can do business." | |
| Analysis | Analysis |
| By Iain Watson, political correspondent | By Iain Watson, political correspondent |
| UKIP sources told me that Nigel Farage has made the prime minister look "very foolish". And on the surface it is embarrassing. | UKIP sources told me that Nigel Farage has made the prime minister look "very foolish". And on the surface it is embarrassing. |
| Theresa May will not be meeting the president-elect until next year - yet a UK opposition politician has already popped in for a chat. | Theresa May will not be meeting the president-elect until next year - yet a UK opposition politician has already popped in for a chat. |
| But Downing Street say they are relaxed about it; that Mrs May has already spoken to Mr Trump by telephone and there will be no role - formal or otherwise - for Mr Farage as a "go-between" with the new US administration. | But Downing Street say they are relaxed about it; that Mrs May has already spoken to Mr Trump by telephone and there will be no role - formal or otherwise - for Mr Farage as a "go-between" with the new US administration. |
| Yet there are political dangers for the prime minister. Mrs May certainly will not be welcoming this opportunity for UKIP to bask in the reflected glory of a Trump victory. | Yet there are political dangers for the prime minister. Mrs May certainly will not be welcoming this opportunity for UKIP to bask in the reflected glory of a Trump victory. |
| People were asking what was the point of the party after the Brexit referendum - so the prime minister really will not want them resurrected as the "British Trumps"- the voice of forgotten voters. | People were asking what was the point of the party after the Brexit referendum - so the prime minister really will not want them resurrected as the "British Trumps"- the voice of forgotten voters. |
| She will have to renew efforts to claim that mantle for herself. | She will have to renew efforts to claim that mantle for herself. |
| Mr Farage asked Mr Trump to return a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the White House Oval Office, a party spokesman said. | |
| The bronze, which had graced the Oval Office during the George W Bush administration, was returned to the British embassy at the outset of Barack Obama's presidency. | |
| Mr Farage said he had been "especially pleased" by Mr Trump's "very positive reaction" to the idea of the bust returning. | |
| Ms Conway said the two men "enjoy each other's company and they had the opportunity to talk about freedom and winning and what all this means for the world". | |
| A UKIP source said the meeting had "made the prime minister look very foolish". | |
| Mr Farage earlier told US media that Mrs May's team had been "quite rude" about Mr Trump, "so there are some fences to be mended". | Mr Farage earlier told US media that Mrs May's team had been "quite rude" about Mr Trump, "so there are some fences to be mended". |
| "Trump is an Anglophile, he understands and recognises what our two great nations have done together between us," he told Fox News. | "Trump is an Anglophile, he understands and recognises what our two great nations have done together between us," he told Fox News. |
| "And, thank goodness, we are coming towards the end of an American president who loathed Britain. | "And, thank goodness, we are coming towards the end of an American president who loathed Britain. |
| "One of the things we can do, we can have between us a sensible trade relationship, cut tariffs, we are massive investors in each other's countries. There's a bright future." | "One of the things we can do, we can have between us a sensible trade relationship, cut tariffs, we are massive investors in each other's countries. There's a bright future." |
| When asked ahead of the meeting if Mr Trump had invited him, Mr Farage joked to reporters: "We're just tourists." | When asked ahead of the meeting if Mr Trump had invited him, Mr Farage joked to reporters: "We're just tourists." |
| Mrs May plans to visit Mr Trump in the first three months of next year after his inauguration. | Mrs May plans to visit Mr Trump in the first three months of next year after his inauguration. |