“Well, it’s a sad day. It’s sad all over the world,” the former president said when asked by Mr Farage on GB News on Thursday night what his immediate impressions were when he learned of the monarch’s death. “She was a woman who was extraordinary … she did it so well,” he added, noting that she “never made a mistake.” Mr Farage referred specifically to the time the former president met the Queen in 2019 and asked what the former president remembered from that well-documented meeting. “Well, we were only going to spend a short amount of time and we did really well and we spent a lot more time than people thought and it was really something,” he said. “We had good chemistry. And then, as you remember that night, there was a big party and I sat next to the Queen, and we just talked all night. She was incredible. She was incredible to talk to and so sharp. Her mind was so sharp and being with her was something very special.” Mr Trump also discussed how his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was a “huge” fan of the Queen. “She loved anything to do with the Queen. When the Queen was in service, my mother was there watching,” he said. The former president’s comments on British radio largely echoed what he had shared on Truth Social hours earlier. Mr. Trump specifically published a post immediately after learning of her death. “Melania and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Along with our family and fellow Americans, we send our sincere condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom during this time of great sadness and grief,” he wrote in a series of “truths.” The former president continued: “Melania and I will always cherish our time with the Queen and we will never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom and wonderful sense of humour. What a stately and beautiful lady she was—there was none like her!” The one-term president visited Buckingham Palace in 2019 after the Queen invited him and Melania Trump for a state visit. It was a showdown that, at the time, was seen as merely highlighting the ideological differences between the two leaders. “After the shared sacrifices of the Second World War, Britain and the United States worked with other allies to build an assembly of international institutions to ensure that the horrors of conflict are never repeated,” the Queen said at the time. citing institutions such as NATO, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized. “While the world has changed, we are always mindful of the original purpose of these structures: for nations to work together to preserve a hard-won peace.” During his interview with Mr Farage, Mr Trump praised the Queen for her “brilliant” ability to navigate political minefields and “stay out of controversy” despite “always having a falling out with the family”. He retold an anecdote where he asked the reigning monarch, “who was your favorite president?” and she replied, “I like everything.” “This is a world event,” he said, admitting that “it was a coming day” but a “very sad event.”
