Farage: Brexit is going global

Ex-Ukip chief backs Trump after storming US platform He says EU vote mood is catching on – but slams delays

DONALD Trump has made blunders and can sound too aggressive – but he is no ‘monster’ and could prove to be a ‘Ronald Reagan Mark 2’ if he becomes US President.

That is the verdict of Nigel Farage following his controversial appearance on a US platform with the Republican presidential contender last week.

And Mr Farage hit back at Trump rival Hillary Clinton’s accusation that the ex-Ukip leader had ‘stoked anti-immigration sentiment’ in the EU referendum campaign, claiming she was trying to ‘demonise’ him – ‘just like George Osborne tried to’ in Brexit clashes.

In an article for today’s Mail on Sunday, printed right, Mr Farage says his warm welcome from Mr Trump and 15,000 Republican supporters showed Brexit had ‘gone global’.

Assessing Mr Trump as a potential President, he writes: ‘Some of his comments have not looked good and left him open to accusations of extremism. At times he has appeared quite aggressive on the platform.

‘Trump has made a lot of mistakes. But I don’t believe that he is the monster painted by many.’

He adds: ‘Virtually everyone thought Ronald Reagan was unfit to be the US President before he made a huge success of his two terms.

‘Having met him [Trump] and having spoken to him, I am far less worried. If he becomes US President he will be able sensibly to make the big decisions.’

Mr Trump has embraced many of the principles adopted by Brexit campaigners, says Mr Farage. ‘Most of the crowd had never voted in their lives. They are the same people that made Brexit happen. They see Washington as distant and aloof, just as many Leave voters saw rule from Brussels.’

Mr Farage goes on to put new pressure on Theresa May not to delay plans to sign the EU’s Article 50, which will trigger talks on Britain’s exit. He writes: ‘She has said that Brexit means Brexit. Given that there is now a global debate on this issue she had better mean it.’

By the end of 2020, Britain must be out of the EU single market and have regained control of its borders and fishing rights. ‘Anything less than this will be a betrayal of 17.4 million voters and could lead to unprecedented anger and even more dramatic political change than we’ve seen this year,’ Mr Farage says.