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Donald Trump: Nigel Farage would be great UK ambassador | Donald Trump: Nigel Farage would be great UK ambassador |
(35 minutes later) | |
President-elect Donald Trump has said UKIP leader Nigel Farage would make a good British ambassador to the US. | President-elect Donald Trump has said UKIP leader Nigel Farage would make a good British ambassador to the US. |
Mr Trump said "many people" would like to see Mr Farage as ambassador and he would do a "great job". | Mr Trump said "many people" would like to see Mr Farage as ambassador and he would do a "great job". |
Mr Farage, who helped Mr Trump during his US presidential election campaign, said the suggestion had come as a "bolt from the blue", adding: "If I could help the UK in any way I would". | |
But No 10 rejected the suggestion, saying "there is no vacancy". | |
Mr Trump tweeted: "Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" | Mr Trump tweeted: "Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" |
Mr Farage, who is UKIP's interim leader, was the first British politician to meet him after his victory, and said there was a "real opportunity" for improved UK trade with the US. | |
He also spoke in support of Mr Trump at election rallies in the US during the campaign. | He also spoke in support of Mr Trump at election rallies in the US during the campaign. |
He said: "It's all a bit of a shock to me. No one had mentioned the idea to me but I have good relations with his team and if I could help the UK in any way I would." | |
Mr Farage said he had good relations with Mr Trump and his team and urged Mrs May to take advantage of that. | |
He said he was "thoughtful" about the ambassador suggestion and described Mr Trump as "a serious anglophile and a friend of this country". | |
The president-elect's meeting with Mr Farage was seen by some as a snub to UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who will not meet Mr Trump until early next year. | |
Mr Trump has spoken to Mrs May by phone and there have been other contacts between British ministers and representatives of the incoming administration. | Mr Trump has spoken to Mrs May by phone and there have been other contacts between British ministers and representatives of the incoming administration. |
A Downing Street spokesman said: "There is no vacancy. We have an excellent ambassador to the US." | |
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said he understood that Downing Street was adamant there would be no role for Mr Farage. | |
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron tweeted that the suggestion of Mr Farage as UK ambassador to the US was a "frankly stupid idea". | |
He added: "I have more diplomacy in my little finger. But what's more worrying is the axing of TPP." | |
Mr Farron was referring to Mr Trump's announcement that he would quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in office. |