Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has met with US president Donald Trump.
“Good meeting with President Trump – he really believes in Brexit and is loving his trip to London,” the former Ukip boss tweeted.
He was earlier photographed arriving by car at Winfield House, where the president was taking “executive time” away from the busy schedule of his three-day state visit to the UK.
Mr Farage was one of the first Britons to visit Mr Trump in New York following his election victory, and the president recently described him as “a friend of mine”.
The president revealed that he had rejected a request for a meeting from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a “somewhat negative force”.
And Tory leadership contender Boris Johnson turned down an offer of a one-on-one meeting with the president so as not to miss a planned hustings before Conservative MPs.
But Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is due to spend time with Mr Trump, despite the president saying in a press conference with Theresa May that he did not know who he was.
A third leadership rival, Jeremy Hunt, will also have one-on-one talks with Mr Trump on Wednesday.
Speaking after meeting Mr Trump, Mr Farage told LBC: “He absolutely believes in Brexit, thinks it’s the right thing for the country to do and he’s concerned that it seems to be taking a very long time and therefore he is very interested in who the next Conservative leader and prime minister is.
“He said some complimentary things about Jeremy Hunt. He said some complimentary things indeed about Boris Johnson and he’s going to be meeting Michael Gove at some point later on today.”
Mr Farage said he believed the US was “very, very prepared” for negotiations with the UK on a future trade deal and suggested the British government was “behind the curve in every way”.
The Brexit Party leader said he wanted to organise a team of negotiators to lead talks with the US, saying: “I was left with the impression that we are behind the curve in every way, that perhaps, after all these years as members of the European Union, we simply haven’t got people who are competent trade negotiators because it’s all been done for us by somebody else.
“Given this lack of preparedness, I am very, very keen to get a delegation of industrialists and business together to fly out to Washington DC to meet Bob Lighthizer, who is the Trump administration’s trade negotiator, and perhaps to start these discussions. If the government can’t do it, then maybe others will have to take that initiative.”
Speaking before his visit, Mr Trump that he might meet up with Johnson and Farage during his visit.
“I may,” he said. “Nigel Farage is a friend of mine. Boris is a friend of mine. They’re two very good guys. Very interesting people.
“He wanted to meet today or tomorrow and I decided that I would not do that.”
Mr Johnson held a “friendly and productive” phone call with Mr Trump on Tuesday but declined the chance to meet the president.
A source close to the leadership frontrunner told The Independent: “Boris thanked him but declined the invitation as he has to focus on the hustings event that was happening at the same time, which the president understood. He said he looked forward to catching up at a later date.”
