U.S. President Donald Trump could meet with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and Tory leadership hopeful Boris Johnson during his state visit to the United Kingdom.
Farage, the former UKIP chief described by President Trump as “Mr Brexit”, was one of the only major political figures from overseas to stick his head above the parapet for the American leader during his presidential race, likening the self-described nationalist’s anti-establishment campaign to his own long campaign to take Britain out of the European Union.
The pair have remained allies ever since, with Mr Farage reportedly updating the President on the glacial progress of the Brexit negotiations between Prime Minister Theresa May — who voted to Remain in the European Union in 2016 — and the EU negotiating team.
“President Trump is a believer in Brexit because President Trump believes in nation-states, he believes in democracy, not in global bureaucracy, so he’s always wanted Brexit to happen,” Farage told Breitbart’s Jerome Hudson in December 2018.
President Trump has held out the prospect of a lucrative British-American trade deal with the United Kingdom and regains its powers to strike bilateral trade agreements — currently controlled by the EU, which has long declined to sign accords with Britain’s key partners — despite predecessor Barack Obama’s threats that the mother country would be sent to “the back of the queue” if it voted for Brexit.
However, the deal the prime minister has negotiated with the EU — although so far she has failed to ratify it in the House of Commons — could scupper this if passed, as it envisions leaving the EU substantially in control of British customs policy and trade regulation.
President Trump may also meet with Boris Johnson, the Brexit-supporting Tory MP who resigned as Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary over the so-called Chequers plan which produced Mrs May’s deal, and who is regarded as a favourite to succeed her as leader by many party members.
“There are fears within Government circles about any potential meeting with Boris Johnson so the timetable is being scrutinised to limit the opportunities [President Trump] has to do his own thing,” claimed one British government source.
President Trump has previously said that he believes Mr Johnson, who he described as a “friend”, would make a “great prime minister”.
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