Inside Nigel Farage and Donald Trump’s friendship – from ‘likelihood assembly’ to golf warning

Nigel Farage has made it clear for all the world to see that Donald Trump is his dear, dear friend.

The Reform UK leader has abandoned his constituents multiple times since being elected as Clacton MP so that he can attend Republican events in the US. And since his pal Mr Trump, 78, won the US presidential election on Tuesday, he has been gushing about his close bond with him.

The 60-year-old said Mr Trump’s victory party was “joyous” as he savoured the win with Republican supporters including Elon Musk in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mr Farage has also offered to “help” Keir Starmer behind-the-scenes “mend” the UK’s relationship with his chum.

Here’s all you need to know about the long-lasting friendship between Mr Farage and Mr Trump.

When did their ‘friendship’ begin?

The pair’s friendship dates back to 2016. They first met not long after Mr Farage had stepped down as UKIP leader after winning the Brexit referendum. A “chance meeting” at a bar at the Republic Convention led to delegates in Mississippi inviting the UK politician to a dinner to talk about his success of the Brexit campaign. Mr Farage said it wasn’t until he was having dinner at the “magnificent” Governor’s Mansion in Jackson that he found out Mr Trump, who was then the presidential candidate for the Republican Party, was holding a rally the following night and wanted Mr Farage to speak.

Mr Farage has admitted he was apprehensive about meeting Mr Trump to begin with. Writing in the Mail on Sunday in 2016, he described the Trump campaign as “highly controversial” and said some of Mr Trumps comments “have not looked good and left him open to accusations of extremism”.

But Mr Farage was charmed by Mr Trump at their first private meeting, saying: “I was surprised, even slightly overwhelmed, by the warmth of his welcome and his huge support for Brexit.” The drama and thrill of the Trump rally also sparked something in the attention-hungry politician, who went on to stage similar events as Reform UK leader during the 2024 general election campaign.

At the time, Mr Farage described his first Trump rally as being far from speeches he had done in “chilly village halls” in the UK during the Brexit campaign. He said he loved “every second” as the crowd went wild for the Brexit “victory of the little people over the Establishment”. “The atmosphere in the room was more like a rock concert than a political meeting,” he said.

Are they really friends?

Mr Farage has been keen to emphasise his closeness to Mr Trump. He even brazenly offered to be a helpful “bridge” between the Labour government and Mr Trump – a suggestion that was slapped down by a Cabinet minister.

Mr Farage was initially apprehensive about Mr Trump being a controversial figure. It seemed the pair – who both pitch themselves as “outsiders” to the “establishment” – realised they could be useful to each other and help to propel each other into the limelight.

The pair make much of showing their affection for each other in the public eye. Ahead of the election, Mr Trump gave a shout out to Mr Farage, who he called a “rebel” and the “big winner of the last election in the UK”. The Reform UK leader stood up and punched his fist in the air. Speaking after Mr Trump’s win, Mr Farage gushed about his loyalty to the President-elect. “I’ve been loyal to this guy through thick and thin,” he said.

Whether their closeness is as strong behind the scenes remains to be seen. When Mr Trump suffered an assassination attempt in July, Mr Farage fled to the US just two weeks after being elected MP for Clacton. But he got tied in knots in an interview with Emily Maitlis where he insisted he “had to come” to the US though it appeared Mr Trump hadn’t personally asked him to.

But one key component missing from their close relationship is photos. There are few moments captured on camera together – and none so far since Mr Trump won the election. Another thing to watch is whether Mr Trump keeps his promise to visit Mr Farage in Clacton now that he is an MP (a pledge he has allegedly repeated since meeting Mr Farage in 2016).

Is Nigel Farage obsessed with Trump?

Mr Farage has been accused of ditching his constituents in Clacton for any opportunity to jet off to America. He missed the King’s Speech to travel to Wisconsin in July to attend the Republican National Convention (RNC) to support Mr Trump. He’s also missed parliamentary debates on the Budget to go to party with Mr Trump in Florida after his victory.

His trips followed him originally saying he wasn’t going to stand as an MP because he thought the US Presidential campaign was more important than the UK one. “Important though the general election is, the contest in the United States of America on November 5 has huge global significance,” he wrote in May, before changing his mind.

Since becoming an MP Mr Farage has penned multiple articles gushing about Mr Trump. After his win, he said Britain must “roll out the red carpet”. And since the Republican won the election, Mr Farage has gushed that he is an “extraordinary human being” and that his win was “the most incredible political comeback in any of our lifetimes”. Could Mr Farage be employing the tactic of diplomatic flattery or is he just a wannabe fan? Or maybe it really is genuine friendship.

Does Farage want to be the next Trump?

It is undeniable that there are clear similarities with the styles of Mr Trump and Mr Farage. They have both pitched themselves of “outsiders” who seek to connect with disenfranchised voters. And both men have put immigration at the centre of their politics. In fact they are the two key areas that caught Mr Farage’s eye when he wrote about first meeting Mr Trump: “Trump is strong on the immigration message and he is connecting, to the horror of the Washington establishment.”

They have both gone on wide-ranging attacks on the media, with Mr Trump’s repeated assaults on “fake news”. Mr Farage has also tried to discredit the BBC and launched a campaign against Channel 4 during the election after its exposé of racism on the campaign trail in Clacton.

Mr Farage also channelled Trump-style rallies during the 2024 election campaign. At Birmingham’s conference centre, the Reform UK leader reinvented the rock and roll-style events that he had immediately enamoured him back in 2016. Giant union jack flags and Reform UK placards covered the room as music blared from the speakers and fireworks erupted as the crowd went wild.

A crack in Mr Farage’s confidence in Mr Trump is that he does not believe claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him – a theory that sparked the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol Building. Mr Farage is firm in his belief in elections (he was certainly forced to accept failure during his other seven attempts at trying to become an MP). And in an interview with the Telegraph the day Americans went to the polls in the US, he said Mr Trump should accept the result and “go and play golf” if he loses. “We settle our differences with the ballot box,” he warned.