Nigel Farage tells ITV News: Donald Trump can be US president

Nigel Farage has told ITV News that he thinks Donald Trump can become the next president of the United States.

Mr Farage said Mr Trump - who is trailing Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House - could defy the predictions of pollsters and commentators to win the election.

The ex-Ukip leader appeared alongside Mr Trump at a campaign rally in Mississippi on Wednesday night, telling 15,000 activists that he would not vote for Mrs Clinton "even if you paid me".

Asked whether he truly believed Mr Trump could win on November 8, Mr Farage told ITV News: "Yes I do.

"We've just had three years of experts telling us that Scottish nationalism would win, that the Tories couldn't form a majority and that the Remain camp would win the referendum.

"Suddenly the experts aren't very good at these things."

Mr Farage stopped short of endorsing Mr Trump, admitting he had "looked very sideways" when the presidential hopeful made controversial comments about Muslims and women.

But he added: "If he [Trump] sticks to his disciplined campaign messages, he's got every chance of winning."

Mr Trump backed the UK's vote to leave the European Union and introduced Mr Farage as the man who "brilliantly" led the campaign.

In a tweet last week, Mr Trump said: "They will soon be calling me Mr Brexit."

Mr Farage said voters were now beginning to see a different side to the billionaire - one which could lead him to victory.

"I think what you saw tonight was a very different Trump," he said.

"He clearly has a new campaign team around him and there's nothing he said tonight that anyone could find offensive in any way at all."

And the reaction from people in the crowd was raucous - with one woman saying he had been "awesome".

Asked how he came to give speech at the rally, Farage said he was "bit surprised" at how enthusiastic the Trump team were to get him involved.

But Farage ruled out a repeat performance saying: "I thought I was just coming to Mississippi.

"I had no idea this was going to happen - but it's not going to happen again."