His allies say Farage still has good lines into the White House, with one noting: “It’s not like he picks up the phone to Trump constantly. But he knows who to speak to to get to Susie Wiles or Scott Bessent, and he does it sparingly.”
A U.S. official acknowledged there was now a twin-track diplomacy within the transatlantic relationship, with “differing U.K. interests pushing their sides” in conversations with the White House.
For now it suits Reform to have it both ways — criticizing individual statements by Trump, while keeping channels of communication open.
Party insiders recognize, however, that a course correction on Russia and America is only part of the picture. Farage has weighed in on Starmer’s efforts to reset relations with China, and has toured Davos, the UAE, the U.S. and Dubai to drum up financial support.
Reform board member Gawain Towler, who has been touring Australia and New Zealand to meet likeminded politicians there, predicted Farage would only become more visible on the world stage.
“What you’re seeing is an outreach,” he said. “Because if we are in a position of winning, if we do end up as a government, we need to be talking to people. We need to have spoken to them beforehand — we can’t go in completely blind.”
Dan Bloom and Eli Stokols contributed to this report.