Boris Johnson has said a second presidential term for Donald Trump could be “just what the world needs”.
The former UK prime minister derided the “global wokerati” for “trembling so violently” in fear of Mr Trump winning November’s US election.
In his his weekly Daily Mail column, Mr Johnson argued that if Mr Trump backs Ukraine in its war against Russia, his renewed leadership “can be a big win for the world”.
Mr Trump has cast doubt on continued support for Kyiv if he re-enters the White House, and has repeatedly boasted about his warm relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
But Mr Johnson, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, claimed that Mr Trump will not betray the war-torn nation.
He wrote: “I simply cannot believe that Trump will ditch the Ukrainians; on the contrary, having worked out, as he surely has, that there is no deal to be done with Putin, I reckon there is a good chance that he will double down and finish what he started — by giving them what they need to win.
“If that is the case, then there is every chance, under Trump, that the West will be stronger, and the world more stable.”
The ex-Tory leader went on to argue that “what the world needs now is a US leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major deterrent to the enemies of the West”.
Nato-sceptic Mr Trump has previously claimed that he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine in 24 hours.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday called on Mr Trump to visit Kyiv.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, the Ukrainian leader said: “Yes please, Donald Trump — I invite you to Ukraine.”
“If you can stop the war during 24 hours I think it will be enough to come to Kyiv, on any day I am here.”
Elsewhere in his column, Mr Johnson conceded that the former Republican president, who is facing 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, has “been caught saying a few unguarded things”.
But, he wrote, “I like his style”, denying that Mr Trump is a “would-be dictator” despite his alleged role in encouraging his supporters to storm the US Capitol in a bid to keep him in power after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Mr Johnson mocked the “hysterics” at Mr Trump’s status as the Republican frontrunner and his recent win in the Iowa caucuses.
“In the cocktail parties of Davos, I am told, the global wokerati have been trembling so violently that you could hear the ice tinkling in their negronis,” the former UK premier wrote in his column, for which reports suggest the Daily Mail is paying him £1 million (€1.2 million) per year.
Mr Johnson also claimed that Mr Trump is interested in “a proper free trade deal” with Brexit Britain, after hopes of a full-blown trade deal were abandoned last year.
