JD Vance Meets Nigel Farage, Another Right Wing Populist, on Trip to UK

Vice President JD Vance began his family vacation in England last Friday with a lightning round of carp fishing. He hasn’t slowed down since, taking part in conference calls about Ukraine, huddling with Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, and meeting fellow right-wing political figures.

On Wednesday morning, it was the turn of Nigel Farage, the leader of the insurgent, anti-immigrant party Reform U.K. He sat down with Mr. Vance, according to an official familiar with the vice president’s schedule, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he said this was a personal trip.

Mr. Farage confirmed the meeting, saying in a statement: “Good to catch up with my old friend JD Vance this morning. Everything we discussed remains confidential.”

Earlier, the official said, Mr. Vance met Robert Jenrick, a Conservative lawmaker who is viewed a rising force on the right flank of the Conservative Party. But he did not meet the party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, an omission that both sides chalked up to logistical hurdles.

“The vice president met with a number of people during his trip to the United Kingdom,” Mr. Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, said in a statement. “He specifically tried to see Kemi Badenoch — a friend of his — but a meeting was not possible due to their scheduling conflicts.”

The vice president’s office also declined to disclose what Mr. Vance and Mr. Farage talked about. But the two share common ground on issues like free-speech rights, which both have claimed are under threat in Britain.

Mr. Jenrick, who endorsed President Trump before the American election, has likewise raised alarms over what he has described as an erosion of free expression under Britain’s Labour government.

“The left’s determination to shut down debate around immigration has created a chilling environment for free speech,” Mr. Jenrick said recently, in language that hews closely to Mr. Vance’s views.

“It’s difficult to see Vance’s failure to meet with Badenoch as any other than a calculated snub to her and a vote of confidence in Jenrick,” said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

Mr. Jenrick, Professor Bale said, “couldn’t make it more obvious that he wants her job if he tried and is well on the road to becoming a MAGA-friendly — indeed, MAGA-style — right-wing culture warrior.”

Mr. Jenrick has fashioned himself as an immigration hard-liner and is viewed by political analysts as a potential challenger to Ms. Badenoch as Tory leader. She has struggled to stabilize the Conservative Party’s poll ratings since its devastating defeat to Labour in a general election last summer.

In a recent column in The Mail on Sunday, Mr. Jenrick said he supported those who protest outside hotels used to house asylum seekers. Last summer, these hotels became targets for violent attacks after a British son of Rwandan migrants killed three young girls in a stabbing rampage.

“I care more for my daughters’ safety than the rights of foreign criminals,” Mr. Jenrick wrote, drawing a mocking reply from Mr. Farage, who claims the Conservatives are to blame for a wave of illegal immigration.

“Your party let 100,000 of them into the UK,” Mr. Farage posted on social media, referring to asylum seekers, many of whom cross the English Channel in rickety boats. “No wonder you’re frightened for the safety of your daughters, Robert.”

During a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office in February, Mr. Vance alluded to the arrest of people for posting inflammatory material on platforms like Facebook or X, saying it threatened “American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens.”

On this visit, Mr. Vance has softened his tone. That may reflect a desire not to spoil Mr. Trump’s planned state visit in September, as well as the fact that Mr. Vance was being hosted by Mr. Lammy, a minister in Mr. Starmer’s government, at a government-owned estate, Chevening, in Kent.

In addition to his political meetings, the vice president has been immersed in planning for Mr. Trump’s meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia later this week. On Wednesday afternoon, he was scheduled to join a video conference call with Mr. Trump, European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

After Mr. Vance leaves the Cotswolds, he plans to travel to Scotland, following Mr. Trump, who visited his golf courses there last month. There were other echoes of the boss on Mr. Vance’s social schedule.

He invited Thomas Skinner, a pillow salesman who appeared on the British version of Mr. Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice,” to a barbecue on Tuesday evening. Mr. Skinner posted a picture of himself and the vice president, writing, “Cracking night in the beautiful English countryside with JD, his friends and family. Once in a lifetime. Bosh.”