Donald Trump has signalled that Britain should make Nigel Farage its ambassador to the United States in a tweet that is likely to cause consternation in Downing Street.
The President-elect has made no secret of his friendship with the interim UKIP leader, who was the first British politician he met at Trump Tower following his election victory.
Mr Trump has now written that "many people" would like to see Mr Farage as British Ambassador in Washington and that he would do a "great job."
Rather than make his recommendation in private, perhaps to Prime Minister Theresa May, the president-in-waiting issued it to his almost 16 million Twitter followers.
"Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" Mr Trump tweeted.
It is virtually unheard of for a President, let alone one who has yet to move into the West Wing, to tell another nation who to choose for high office.
Responding to Mr Trump's intervention, Mr Farage said: "I'm very flattered by the comments and I have said since I met the president-elect that I would like to do anything I can to act in a positive way to help relationships between our two countries."
Mr Farage campaigned for Mr Trump in the summer and the two men share a delight in snubbing the establishment, but the suggestion is likely to get short shrift in Downing Street.
Brexit campaigner Mr Farage is regarded by Number 10 as an interloper hampering the lines of communication with the new US administration.
A source was quoted by the BBC as saying: "There is no vacancy. We have an excellent ambassador to the US".
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Sir Kim Darroch, the current British ambassador in Washington, was only appointed in February and the usual term for the job is about four years.
President-elect Mr Trump has yet to hold a press conference since the election, but he released a video statement on YouTube detailing his plans to renegotiate trade agreements, create jobs and end restrictions of energy production.
He made no mention of his controversial proposal to build a wall at the US border with Mexico or any scheme to track Muslim immigrants. Nor did he make any mention of how he intends to combat ISIS or terrorism in general.
In the two-and-a-half-minute "informercial", Mr Trump, sitting in front of an American flag, said: "Whether it’s producing steel, building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America — creating wealth and jobs for American workers."
Despite claims to the contrary, he claimed the transition was going "very smoothly, efficiently and effectively" and pledged to take the US out of the trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the Oval Office.
The video was released after a report in The Atlantic claimed some attendees at the "alt-right" National Policy Institute’s annual conference in Washington DC at the weekend used Nazi salutes hailing white power in speeches supporting Mr Trump.
