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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Jessica Coates

Farage admits he hasn’t spoken to Trump for months as Reform leader questions president’s judgement

Nigel Farage has questioned Donald Trump’s judgement over the Iran war after admitting he hasn’t talked to the US president in months.

The Reform UK leader, who refers to Mr Trump as a “friend”, shared his concerns during an interview with the Daily Mail.

Despite praising Mr Trump’s economic and border control policies and acknowledging that the US leader was “not everyone’s cup of tea”, Mr Farage shared a specific worry.

“I do, as a friend, worry slightly about his judgment on this, yes. I do,” he told the newspaper.

“It will be a terribly sad end to an amazing political career if the man that was always anti-war in the end gets [brought] down by this – I struggle to understand it.”

Farage’s comments come as relations between the US and the UK have become strained in recent months, following Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s assertion that Britain would not be “dragged into” the Iran war.

Mr Farage had previously indicated that the American president had been poorly advised ahead of the military action.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Reform UK leader, who spoke of Mr Trump as a ‘friend’, praised his economic and border control policies but admitted the US leader was ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’ (The White House)

The Reform UK leader told the Press Association at the time he had spoken to the US president “earlier this year” and not since.

Elsewhere in the Daily Mail interview, Mr Farage signalled plans to scrap Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset to relations with the EU, saying a close economic relationship with the US would be more beneficial for the UK.

“The starkness of the approach towards money, risk appetite, capital in America and Europe is incredible,” he said.

“And here’s Starmer taking us ever closer back to the European Union.”

He also signalled a “massive change of thought” was needed on welfare reform and said a Reform UK government would expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

“Attitudes are going to have to harden. There’s a massive, massive change of thought needed on benefits – that’s going to be the biggest war of them all,” he said.

“And there’ll be riots, and there’ll be strikes and there’ll be protests, and we know all of that, but that’s what we’re going to have to do – it has to be done. We just can’t afford it now.”

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