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Farage first UK politician to meet Trump since election Farage: UK must 'mend fences' with Donald Trump
(35 minutes later)
Nigel Farage has become the first British politician to meet Donald Trump since he became US president-elect. Nigel Farage has said it is time for British politicians to "mend fences" with Donald Trump after their criticism of him during the US election campaign.
A UKIP spokesman said the interim party leader discussed "freedom and winning" with Mr Trump on a visit to Trump Tower in New York. Speaking after meeting the next US President in New York - the first UK politician to do so - the UKIP leader said the tycoon was a real Anglophile who the UK could "do business" with.
Mr Trump's spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said the meeting had been "very productive". Ministers who had said "nasty things" about him should now "seize the day".
Downing Street said Mr Farage had "no role" in the government's relationship with the incoming US administration. Mr Trump, who takes office in January, has said the UK is a "special place".
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. The US president-elect has spoken to Theresa May by phone while there have been other contacts between ministers and representatives of the incoming administration.
"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." Mr Farage, who campaigned alongside Mr Trump during the election, suggested many British politicians, including some close to Theresa May, had been "quite rude" about him during his ascent to power and now must re-think their attitudes.
"I do think that just too many members of this government said too many nasty things about the President-elect, and I think there has to be a mending of fences," he said.
There were huge opportunities to be had in "Brexit Britain", Mr Farage said, and Donald Trump would be a much more accommodating partner than his predecessor Barack Obama - who he suggested had "damaged" the special relationship.
"Not only President-elect Trump, but his whole team is Anglophile.
"They like our country, they recognise what we've done together in the past, and they're coming into this with an incredibly positive view. We need to seize the day."
AnalysisAnalysis
By Chris Mason, political correspondentBy Chris Mason, political correspondent
It's the image that encapsulates politics in 2016. President-elect Trump, in an open necked shirt, smiles, giving the thumbs up gesture.It's the image that encapsulates politics in 2016. President-elect Trump, in an open necked shirt, smiles, giving the thumbs up gesture.
He's stood, shoulder to shoulder, with Nigel Farage in front of a glitzy, golden backdrop inside Trump Tower in New York. Outsiders, who faced scorn and ridicule, they stand together now as winners. To be anti-establishment now is to be mainstream.He's stood, shoulder to shoulder, with Nigel Farage in front of a glitzy, golden backdrop inside Trump Tower in New York. Outsiders, who faced scorn and ridicule, they stand together now as winners. To be anti-establishment now is to be mainstream.
The two men, catalysts for political convulsions on both sides of the Atlantic, discussed "freedom and winning," UKIP sources said.The two men, catalysts for political convulsions on both sides of the Atlantic, discussed "freedom and winning," UKIP sources said.
Their meeting was an embarrassment for Downing Street and stellar political theatre - but perhaps only that. Nigel Farage knows Mr Trump, but wields no power.Their meeting was an embarrassment for Downing Street and stellar political theatre - but perhaps only that. Nigel Farage knows Mr Trump, but wields no power.
The challenge for the UK government now is to build bridges with a new American administration it didn't want, and didn't expect to win.The challenge for the UK government now is to build bridges with a new American administration it didn't want, and didn't expect to win.
Mr Farage asked Mr Trump to return a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the White House Oval Office, a party spokesman said. Mr Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the US at the end of 2015 led to a debate in Parliament on whether he should be barred from the UK while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who was then Mayor of London, said Mr Trump must be "out of his mind".
Mr Farage said he had been "especially pleased" by Mr Trump's "very positive reaction" to the idea of the bust returning. Mr Trump's spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said Saturday's meeting between the two men in Trump Tower had been "very productive" and that they had talked about "freedom and winning and what all this means for the world".
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". Mr Farage, who said Mr Trump "was relaxed, and full of good ideas", had joked on the way to the encounter that he was "just a tourist".
A UKIP source said the meeting had "made the prime minister look very foolish". A UKIP spokesman had previously confirmed that Mr Farage asked Mr Trump to return a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the White House Oval Office. Mr Farage said he had been "especially pleased" by Mr Trump's "very positive reaction" to the idea.
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.
"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."
'Implausible''Implausible'
When asked ahead of the meeting if Mr Trump had invited him, Mr Farage joked to reporters: "We're just tourists." A UKIP source said the meeting, held on 12 November, had "made the prime minister look very foolish".
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.
Crispin Blunt, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, described as "completely implausible" the idea that Mr Farage would have an ambassadorial role in a Trump administration , telling the BBC there was "no need for Nigel". The prime minister has said she hopes the two will be able to work on areas of mutual interest to enhance the special relationship between the two countries although some have said the government has no links with the Trump camp and will have to "start from scratch".
Crispin Blunt, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, described as "completely implausible" the idea that Mr Farage would have an ambassadorial role in a Trump administration, telling the BBC there was "no need for Nigel".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he understood the appeal of Mr Trump's rhetoric to people angry at being "left behind" by globalisation but he said the president-elect needed to "grow up" when it came to his views on immigration.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he understood the appeal of Mr Trump's rhetoric to people angry at being "left behind" by globalisation but he said the president-elect needed to "grow up" when it came to his views on immigration.
Mr Corbyn, whose wife is Mexican, said the US economy was reliant on migrant labour and plans to build a wall on the border had caused "anger and outrage".Mr Corbyn, whose wife is Mexican, said the US economy was reliant on migrant labour and plans to build a wall on the border had caused "anger and outrage".
"I think the treatment of Mexico by the US, just as much as the absurd, abusive language to Muslims, is something that should be challenged and has to be challenged," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show."I think the treatment of Mexico by the US, just as much as the absurd, abusive language to Muslims, is something that should be challenged and has to be challenged," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
UKIP and other right-wing parties did not have the answer to increasing economic marginalisation and inequality, he said.