New York: Nigel Farage, Britain’s most high-profile Donald Trump ally, returned to the US president-elect’s New York headquarters on Thursday for a second time since the Republican billionaire’s shock election.
The man who championed Britain’s vote to leave the European Union spent nearly an hour cloistered at Trump Tower, where the 70-year-old president elect has been building his incoming administration.
It was not immediately clear if he met Trump and he was not included on a pre-announced list of people scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday.
The Briton arrived in the lobby, amid a throng of tourists and Christmas shoppers, at 2.53pm (11.53pm UAE) and went up in the elevator. He left at 3.59pm, ignoring questions shouted by reporters.
Farage upset the political establishment in London last month by becoming the first British politician to meet with Trump after his election, congratulating the billionaire in person on his electoral defeat of Hillary Clinton.
Farage was photographed, open mouthed in delight, standing next to a tie-less Trump doing a thumbs-up sign in front of the tycoon’s gold elevator doors.
He campaigned on behalf of Trump during the summer, believing the real estate tycoon and former reality TV star had tapped into similar anger over globalization and ruling elites as the anti-EU campaign in Britain.
Trump rewarded his loyalty by recommending that Farage serve as British ambassador to the United States, again irritating Downing Street.
Long dismissed as a political outsider, Farage stunned the world by helping to deliver the June vote to leave the European Union. He quickly resigned as leader of the nationalist UK Independence Party, saying his work was done, and was replaced last month.
