ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY, SKY NEWS

SOPHY RIDGE: Well it’s been an incredible week in the world of Donald Trump, lurid allegations and one of the most heated presidential press conferences in history and he’s not even in the White House yet.  Well the man with the ear of the President Elect, Nigel Farage, joins me now in the studio.  Hello, good to see you, I’m not sure if there has ever been a President entering the White House under such a cloud of controversy.  You’ve spent more time with him than any other UK politician since he won that election, how’s he going to turn it round?

NIGEL FARAGE: Well he’s not.  Please, if anyone thinks that he’s going to become a President like the previous 44 they can just forget about it, he isn’t going to be like that.  He will go on tweeting, he will go on saying what he thinks, he will go on generally ignoring the media and rather than doing press conferences he’ll do a YouTube clip or whatever it is.  No, this is going to be completely and utterly different.  What matters frankly isn’t what the commentariat think, what matters is what the American people think.

SR: But the American people, he actually got the lowest approval ratings of a President Elect since polling began, 37%.

NIGEL FARAGE: What a great place to start, absolutely ideal.  You start with relatively low expectations but then show people that you can bring money back to America, you can bring jobs back to America and control the border with Mexico.  If he can do those things what you will see is his popularity ratings go through the roof.

SR: That is of course that famous photo of you by the gold elevator in Trump Towers but when was the last time you spoke to him?

NIGEL FARAGE: Oh I’m just trying to think … just before Christmas.  Just before Christmas but obviously we’re out there this week, it’s going to be very exciting.  Look I know, I know people look at this guy and from this side of the Atlantic all they’ve seen is controversy, negativity.  All I will say is this, he has appointed some absolutely first class people to big positions, these are the people running America.  They are self-made billionaires, they are very successful generals in the US army, they are not part of typical career politicians.

SR: Definitely not typical career politicians, some of them are quite close to Russia aren’t they?

NIGEL FARAGE: Well business wise, I mean one in particular has been.  Obviously the relationship with Russia is dominating everything at the moment and there is even talk of perhaps a Reykjavik summit, rather as Reagan did with Gorbachev all those years ago.  The important thing is this, there is nothing, absolutely nothing to be lost in him sitting down and talking with Vladimir Putin and the idea that somehow he is going to appease Putin or give in to Putin or hand over our security secrets to Putin, frankly is nonsense.  At the moment, at the moment there is a complete standoff between all of us in the West and Russia, we’re back to the Cold War.  If a conversation could ease those tensions surely that makes sense.

SR: But doesn’t that worry you?  Russia has bombed hospitals in Syria, they’ve hacked a democratic election, they’ve invaded a neighbouring state – isn’t it worrying that Donald Trump is appearing to be quite conciliatory towards  them?

NIGEL FARAGE: I think the point about the invasion of the Crimea, the takeover of the Crimea, is that this is a conflict that we provoked right from the start.  Our expansionist attitude towards the Ukraine, the European Union, NATO wanted to take that country and that is what sparked all of this.  We need a different approach towards Russia, one that is not in any way going to give in or appease them but one that says perhaps poking the Russian bear with a stick isn’t that intelligent.

SR: Now I want to talk to you about Brexit, you clearly think that Donald Trump is going to be a good thing for the UK and for trade relationships but I just want to have a look what the man that we’re negotiating with has said.  So this is Wilbur Ross, who is Commerce Secretary, talking about Brexit and the opportunities for other countries to take advantage, he said, ‘I think this is a God-given opportunity.’  I mean that doesn’t sound that friendly to the UK to me.

NIGEL FARAGE: Really?  Actually there is something about free trade and the reduction of barriers and an increase of investment that could be good for both sides, that’s the point.  We are in this situation where we have potentially a very protracted renegotiation with the European Union and frankly given the amount of time the Prime Minister is taking to even declare Article 50, I think it will be quite protracted.  I think what we have got here is a fantastic opportunity really to strengthen our negotiating hand in Brussels.  I am absolutely certain knowing not just Trump but knowing many of the Trump team, I am absolutely certain they want to show the outside world that they are not protectionist, they are worried about trade deals and worried about trade with places like China where state subsidy is closing down steel production in America and we could even argue South Wales come to that, but when it comes to countries that are equivalent that are open to doing business I suspect that within the first few months of a Trump presidency there will be a big statement from Wilbur Ross or someone like that saying we want to do this, oh and by the way we’re not Eurocrats, we’re not people who have lived on the public sector purse all of our lives.  This won’t take two years or five years or ten years, we want to get this done in three months and then, then it’s going to be up to the British government to see how they respond to it.  It was very interesting this week, Theresa May was with the Premier of New Zealand who said we want to start trade talks with the UK.  Theresa May said yes, good idea, we’ll do it when the time is right, meaning when Mr Junker says we’re allowed to.

SR: Talking about New Zealand though, at the same the UK did more trade with the EU in two days last year than they did with New Zealand over the whole …

NIGEL FARAGE: Yes and that is the argument that says we should be insular little Britain, we should purely focus on Europe and forget about the rest of the world, much of which is expanding far more rapidly.  The whole point about Brexit – nobody on the Brexit side made an insular argument, we made the argument we are freeing ourselves to reengage with the rest of the world but here’s the problem, if the European Union tell us we can’t do that until a two year process is out of the way, you suddenly start to ask yourself is it really worth going through two years of renegotiation and losing all of these opportunities?  So I think we are going to have to start standing up for ourselves in the Councils of Brussels.

SR: So what are hoping from Theresa May’s Brexit speech next week?  I mean it sounds like all your dreams are about to come true, she is coming out of the customs union and …

NIGEL FARAGE: Yes, she seemed pretty tough with you last Sunday on your first show, strong hints that we wouldn’t stay part of the single market and then the next day gave a statement that appeared to contradict it.  I’m quite certain that Theresa May will do what she always does, she will sound very reassuring, she will look to be very much in control, she will say all the right things and people like me will say well it sounds great but why is it taking so long?  And when it comes to immigration in particular which she is highlighting – you know, this is coming from the person who was Home Secretary and failed completely.  I’m yet to be convinced I have to say.

SR: I’m interested just quickly, finally, about your roller coaster year. You failed to become an MP, you failed to become the US Ambassador as well, now you’re a radio DJ host, is it coming crashing back down to reality?

NIGEL FARAGE: No, I’m doing what I want to do.  I am not leading a political party, it leaves me free to be a commentator, I can do radio, I can write, I can appear on television.  I’m still an MEP and I’ll be there watching those negotiations once Article 50 has been triggered but I’m just freed from running a political party and I’m very happy.

SR: Very positive spins put on that.  Nigel Farage, thanks for being with us.