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Nigel Farage didn’t meet Donald Trump when he travelled to the US president’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Friday, as folks near the Reform UK chief say the relationship between the 2 populist politicians has cooled since 2024.
Farage had given the impression that he anticipated to see Trump, telling an occasion hosted in opposition to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s proposed Chagos Islands settlement with Mauritius that the president “has almost understood the deal . . . but I’ll be dining at Mar-a-Lago tomorrow night and I will reinforce the message”.
But, moderately than receiving a proper invite to fulfill Trump, Farage was the truth is invited to Mar-a-Lago by a member of the membership, in accordance with a number of folks briefed on the matter.
They mentioned Farage had hoped he would be capable of catch Trump for a dialog as the US president was scheduled to journey to Mar-a-Lago that night. However, Trump had a change in his itinerary and determined to remain as a substitute in Doral, about an hour’s drive away.
The Reform chief’s failure to safe an viewers with the US president underscores a weakening of ties between the 2 populist leaders who famously shaped a detailed friendship within the years earlier than and after the 2016 presidential election, in accordance with folks within the US and UK with data of the relationship.
In 2024, Farage provided to behave as a “bridge” between Trump and the brand new Labour authorities, telling reporters that “I might be useful as an interlocutor, unofficially, behind the scenes, to try and help mend some of those fences”.
But folks near Farage mentioned there was not common contact between the lads and that Reform had few direct hyperlinks into the US administration. Trump had as a substitute prioritised forming his personal ties with Sir Keir Starmer’s authorities, they added.
A US administration official advised the FT earlier than the outbreak of the battle with Iran, which has caused tension between Trump and Starmer, that the White House had made vital progress behind the scenes with UK counterparts — notably former overseas secretary David Lammy and his successor Yvette Cooper — and was reluctant to jeopardise these hyperlinks.
One particular person near Farage speculated {that a} breakdown in relations between the Reform chief and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who served as head of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency till May final yr, could have contributed to a cooling within the relationship.
Farage introduced in December 2024 after meeting Musk at Mar-a-Lago that the billionaire was contemplating making a donation to Reform, however in a shock transfer a number of weeks later Musk wrote on X that “Farage doesn’t have what it takes” and wanted to get replaced as chief.
One UK official mentioned the decline in Farage’s affect within the US appeared gradual and sustained.
It had been famous in London that only a few senior US administration figures attended a celebration in Washington hosted by main Brexiters, for which Farage was the visitor of honour on the eve of Trump’s second inauguration final yr, they mentioned.
Farage himself admitted he didn’t “make the cut” to attend Trump’s swearing-in from the celebrated rotunda of the Capitol constructing.
The official mentioned it appeared Trump had actively needed to develop his hyperlinks on the highest echelons of British politics when he returned to the White House. In September he turned the primary overseas chief to be honoured with a second state go to to the UK.
“Trump was so warm to Starmer precisely because he wanted a friend in the UK that wasn’t Farage. Yes, he respected Starmer as a winner in the election, but it was more than that,” the official mentioned.
However, a celebration in September hosted by GB News to toast the UK media organisation’s arrival in Washington DC, at which Farage was one of many main company, was attended by a number of senior administration officers, together with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.
Reform does keep some direct hyperlinks into the US administration, most notably a detailed friendship between the Cambridge theologian James Orr, who was just lately made the right-wing populist celebration’s head of coverage, and US vice-president JD Vance.
Reform and the White House didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
