'He really believes in Brexit': Nigel Farage has ‘good meeting’ with Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has held a meeting with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage during his state visit to the UK.
Mr Farage said the pair had a “good meeting” and the president “really believes in Brexit”.
The Brexit Party leader, a friend of the president, was photographed being driven to Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador in London, on the way to his meeting with Mr Trump.
Mr Farage said the president was “loving his trip to London”.
At the top of his LBC show, Mr Farage said he had received a “private invitation” to see Mr Trump and said the president was pleased with how the state visit was going.
“I think most people will agree yesterday went very, very well. Certainly Donald Trump was very pleased with it,” Mr Farage said.
He went on: “Clearly, it was a private meeting but what I can say is he was in top form, he was ebullient.
“He absolutely believes in Brexit, thinks it’s the right thing for the country to do. He’s obviously concerned it’s taking a very long time.”
Mr Farage said he came away from the meeting with the impression that the US was ready to do a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK but that the Government were unprepared.
He added: “What was most interesting about the meeting was trade... The Americans are very, very prepared for their side of the negotiation.”
He said Mr Trump and US ambassador Woody Johnson told him the US team had a 13-chapter plan “where they have pretty much completed the work”.
“When I asked the extent to which the British were ready for this, I got the impression we are pretty much behind the curve all the way.”
He called for an independent delegation of business leaders to travel to the US and negotiate in the meantime.
He continued: “My big take from that meeting an hour ago is America is prepared for this and we simply aren’t.”
The US president is also expected to meet Tory leadership hopefuls Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt, and had a phone conversation with Boris Johnson during the visit.
Ahead of the trip, Mr Trump said: “Nigel Farage is a friend of mine. Boris is a friend of mine. They are two very good guys, very interesting people.”
In a reference to the Brexit Party’s European election success, he added: “Nigel’s had a big victory, he’s picked up 32% of the vote starting from nothing.
“I think they are big powers over there, I think they have done a good job.”