London (CNN) President Donald Trump has weighed in on the power struggle in British politics, praising Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage and prime ministerial hopeful Boris Johnson and suggesting he may meet the pair on his state visit to Britain next week.

Days before he is due to travel to London, the President congratulated Farage on his performance in the recent European elections and called Johnson, who is the frontrunner to replace Theresa May as prime minister, a "friend of mine."

Both have been critics of May, and Trump's comments are likely to cause unease in Downing Street ahead of a visit that is replete with potential diplomatic pitfalls.

Trump's comments came in an impromptu exchange with reporters at the White House on Thursday. Asked whether he would meet Farage or Johnson in London, Trump replied: "I may. Nigel Farage is a friend of mine, Boris is a friend of mine, they're two very good guys, very interesting people.|"

Turning to the success of Farage's Brexit Party in last week's elections to the European Parliament, Trump added: "Nigel's had a big victory, he picked up 32% of the vote starting from nothing and I think they're big powers over there. I think they've done a good job." Farage's party scored just under 31% of the vote, according to the European Parliament.

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