Are Nigel Farage and Donald Trump still friends?
It comes as the US president held peace talks in Saudi Arabia but without any Ukrainian involvement.
“I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory. They have the cards,” Mr Trump told the BBC on Air Force One.
But, more surprisingly, far-right Reform UK leader Mr Farage has also made the rare step of calling out his friend and supporter.
Mr Farage told GB News: “You should always take everything Donald Trump says seriously, you shouldn’t always take things Donald Trump says absolutely literally. I think that applies very much in this case.”
He later added: “Let’s be clear, Zelenskyy is not a dictator. But it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections.”
Nigel Farage and Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy with Elon Musk at Mar-A-Lago, the Florida home of US President-elect Donald Trump
PA Media
Are Nigel Farage and Donald Trump still friends?
Mr Farage has famously been one of the few enduring figures in the friendship circle of the famously volatile Mr Trump.
Since then, the pair have exchanged pleasantries in public and have shared a stage, while Mr Farage has been present at the inauguration and when Mr Trump was shot last year.
On Mr Farage’s 60th birthday, Mr Trump said: “You look great Nigel, I tell you, I was just with you and you look great. You have truly been a pivotal voice all over the world, in the United Kingdom and beyond, and everyone’s lucky to have you.”
Of Mr Trump, Mr Farage has said: “He beat the pollsters, he beat the media, he beat all the predictions and, here’s the worst bit, they’ve never forgiven him for it. This is the single most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life.”
Donald Trump says Nigel Farage, who is in attendance at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania tonight, was the ‘big winner’ in the UK general election
Nigel Farage / X
While the pair have perhaps spoken more highly of each other than even their own wives, the comments made by Mr Farage about his friend’s stance on Ukraine was a rare hint of disaccord between the two.
“I applaud President Trump for starting peace negotiations,” he told Sky. “Our strategy seems to be to keep backing Ukraine up in an endless war that they are going to lose.”
He added: “Look, he promised a negotiation. He promised he’d talk to Putin. And he is. This is progress. We may not at the moment like how it looks, but we haven’t seen the final shape of the deal.”
Mr Trump has not commented on what Mr Farage said and the two appear to still be on good terms.
“The Reform Party needs a new leader,” Mr Musk tweeted. “Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Asked if he was reluctant to criticise Mr Musk because of a potential donation, Mr Farage said: “I think I made it perfectly clear that I don’t agree with everything he stands for, but I do believe in free speech.
“I think he’s a hero, and I said that well before any potential money was offered.”
