Nigel Farage, co-founder of the UK Independence Party and leader of the Brexit movement to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union, told Colorado Politics it could be time for President Donald Trump to address the American people in order to counteract what he called “pure obstructionism” by establishment forces in the wake of last year’s global populist wave.

Farage, a member of the European Parliament for nearly two decades, also said he will return to lead UKIP if British politicians succeed in watering down the implementation of Brexit.

Farage was the featured speaker at the National Asian Indian Republican Association’s annual fundraising dinner on Saturday at the Denver Marriott South in Lone Tree.

“In 2016, we saw radical change – we saw Brexit, we saw Trump,” Farage said in an interview with Colorado Politics. “It was a revolutionary year. I was very honored to be the only political figure involved with both campaigns.”

Farage, a key Trump ally on the campaign trail last year, was the first foreign dignitary to meet the president-elect after the Republican stunned observers by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.

In the months since then, Farage said, the political class has stood in the way of Trump’s agenda – the same way entrenched interests are trying to slow the implementation of Brexit in the United Kingdom, he said – but he said Trump has reminded him of a resolute British politician who also stood her ground, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

“What is happening here – obstructionism,” Farage said. “Pure obstructionism. Trump himself and the team around him are as determined as they were seven months ago. They genuinely believe they made a series of promises to American voters, and their job is to carry out those promises. And, in that, it reminds me of Mrs. Thatcher. Mrs. Thatcher, however unpopular she might have been at times, said, ‘No, no – this is where we’re going.'”

Shaking his head and letting loose a hearty laugh, Farage pointed to the daily barrage of court decisions, news stories and revelations in ongoing federal and congressional probes targeting Trump and his associates.

“But to see what’s happening with the judges, to see what’s happening with parts of the media, to see what’s happening with parts of the intelligence services – quite honestly, to see what’s been happening in parts of the Republican party – every attempt being made to stop him,” Farage said.

He dismissed reports he’s been named a “person of interest” – not a suspect or a target, but someone with key information – in the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible involvement with Russian efforts to interfere with last year’s presidential election.

“The whole thing is so ridiculous, they’ve even named me now as a person of interest to the FBI,” Farage said. “It’s just complete and utter nonsense. And now the latest is the president may well have obstructed justice. I’ll tell you what, they’re obstructing democracy. It is wrong in America that the man is not given the chance to put his policies into action so that the electors can judge him in three years’ time. I’m actually very angry about what’s going on in this country – they’re trying to stop him. But I tell you what, he’s a tough cookie.”

Farage said there are “two schools of thought” about what Trump should do going forward.

“One is, sack everybody. I just don’t think that works, and I think the Comey thing has probably made things worse,” he said, referring to Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, which led to the U.S. Department of Justice appointing a special counsel to handle the Trump investigation.

“I think that we’re getting very close to the moment,” Farage said, “given these levels of obstructionism and, frankly, just lies – I think we’re getting very close to the moment where he’s going to have to make a big address to the nation, live on television, to say, ‘Look, folks, I’m trying to do what you asked me to do. Washington is stopping me.’ I think he needs to make that absolutely clear.”

Farage, who stepped down as UKIP leader last summer after the successful Brexit vote, acknowledged the recent clamor for his return following British parliamentary elections earlier this month, when the ruling Conservatives lost a clear majority, potentially dealing a setback to Brexit negotiations.

“Twenty-five years of my life were given up to getting a brand-new political movement off the ground, which is very difficult, almost impossible. And I felt after Brexit that I’d achieved more in British politics than I could ever have achieved, and I was happy to step back,” Farage said.

“I am continuing in the European Parliament – it’s not as though I’ve retired. So there are big calls for me to come back, not just to do the Brussels scene but to do the UK scene as well,” he added. “All I’ll say – I haven’t made my mind up – all I’ll say is this: If we come to a point where everything that I’ve fought for, everything I’ve argued for gets watered down by our political class, I will be back.”

– Ernest.Luning@coloradopolitics.com