Britain could be in line for a trade "lane" with Donald Trump's America because of Brexit, a senior US Democrat has suggested.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who despite his party allegiance is a personal associate of Trump, said he believed the President-elect would have "sympathy" with Britain's departure from the EU - and would show more leniency towards the UK than Brussels or Nato.
Though he told reporters Trump's triple election victory - winning the US House and Senate alongside the White House - was "very sobering", Murphy was optimistic about Brexit Britain's place in a Trump-led world.
He said: "I'm sure you are concerned about tariffs, the bilateral relationship.
Trump could have 'sympathy' with Britain's departure from the EU
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"If I had to speculate I would say there's a lane for the UK.
"There's less of a lane for the EU and Nato. There's a lane for the UK to be determined.
Trump "is somebody who I think will have sympathy with an entity leaving a larger club," the New Jersey Governor added.
He said: "There was a certain relationship here - Brexit and Trump were born in the same year.
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Murphy has pursued links with Trump where some of his Democrat colleagues have been reluctant to do so
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"I can't speak for the President but I think there is an embedded sympathy for someone who leaves a bureaucracy... leaves a club."
His comments echo some of the plans outlined in "Project 2025", the Heritage Foundation think tank's proposed plan for a second Trump presidency.
Though the soon-to-be 47th President has "repeatedly denounced" the policy plan, it calls for "urgent trade development" with the "post-Brexit UK... before London slips back into the orbit of the EU".
While Trump ally Nigel Farage has hailed the President-elect as the "most pro-British we have had for decades".
Nigel Farage has hailed the President-elect as the 'most pro-British President we have had for decades'
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"He has expressed to me over the years to do a genuine free trade deal with the UK," Farage added.
Governor Murphy has pursued links with Trump where some of his Democrat colleagues have been reluctant to do so, staying in contact even after he left the White House in January 2021.
But on today's visit to London and Cambridge aimed at strengthening business ties in several scientific industries, he said the change of administration could bolster relations even further.
"We believe with great passion that those relations can be strengthened... We start in a good place here," he said.
