Nigel Farage had dinner with Donald Trump and all he got was this lousy photo

Self-proclaimed anti-establishment man of the people Nigel Farage, the prophet of Brexit and Ukip demi-god, was in Washington, DC, to meet his big orange mate, President Trump.

The privately-educated bon vivant and scoundrel was spotted guzzling cocktails at the bar of the Trump International Hotel while he waited for Donald Trump to arrive.

The pair then dined together at the BLT Steakhouse inside the building (Trump never misses a marketing opportunity, the White House really is a great platform for The Trump Organisation) with family members and associates of the president.

Farage, a peerage coveting ex-City boy, was among the first people to meet with Trump after his election win in November, and the two men, who hold each other in deep and lustful admiration, had a now-notorious picture together in Trump Tower's golden lift.

This time around, the photo is somewhat less iconic. Farage looks like some sort of TV prankster who bluffed his way past the US Secret Service and sat at an empty seat on Trump's table. Only, Trump has noticed, and is telling an agent to off the random guy who just sat down.

When Farage was later found wandering around the lobby, his "teeth are wine-stained" and he was "happily swaying and speaking with anyone who approaches him", according to an account of the dinner by the journalist Benny Johnson, published at Independent Journal Review.

"Well it's really quite wonderful," Farage told Johnson. "But as I've gotten to know Donald, it really just does not surprise me. You know what amazes me about your president? He is a regular bloke. Truly. Just a normal chap. Upstairs at dinner, he spoke to the table like any regular guy out to dine with friends and family. There is no pretension at all."

Just a normal chap, one of your everyday billionaire businessmen and politicians who lead the world's most powerful country, whose name is in massive letters on the hotel you're currently in. One of those regular guys who could, if they wanted, annihilate the planet with nuclear weapons.