The Trump administration has hosted Tommy Robinson, the British hard-right extremist, at the State Department in Washington.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he was in America “making alliances and friendships”.
The former football hooligan, who has convictions for assault, using a fake passport, mortgage fraud and contempt of court, was hosted by Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser at the State Department. The Times understands Robinson was given a tour of the department by Rittenhouse, who hosted him as a personal friend rather than as an official guest of the US government.
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“Honoured to have free speech warrior @TRobinsonNewEra at Department of State today,” Rittenhouse wrote on X. “The world and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy. Good to see you my friend!”
Robinson said he planned to meet the Republican Congressman Keith Self while in Washington.
Robinson at the State Department
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Originally a member of the British National Party, Robinson co-founded the English Defence League.
He has described Muslims as “filthy scumbags” and said people should “make war” on them. He was previously banned from Facebook after urging people to behead those who follow the Quran.
In 2017, he responded to the Islamophobic attack by a far-right extremist on the Finsbury Park mosque by saying the mosque had “a long history of creating terrorists and radical jihadists and promoting hate and segregation”.
The following year he falsely accused a Syrian refugee boy who was bullied of previously attacking two schoolgirls. Robinson admitted libel and was ordered to pay £100,000 plus legal costs.
In recent months the hard-right agitator has praised senior figures associated with the Trump administration, including Elon Musk, the owner of X, who addressed a rally in London via video link last year.
In a recent interview Robinson praised President Trump, Musk and JD Vance, the vice-president, as “the only people fighting for our free speech right now”.
“Britain loves Donald Trump,” he said. “There is a ripple that has come from America for free speech. The reason I have my X account back? Elon Musk. The reason I now have my YouTube account back? Because of the election of Donald Trump. When America elected Donald Trump, they didn’t just elect [him] to save America, it was to save the West.”
The administration’s decision to allow Robinson a meeting is likely to cause alarm in Westminster and will be viewed as further evidence of Republicans’ willingness to intervene in British politics.
The national security strategy released by the White House last year accused Europe of becoming “unrecognisable” due to high levels of immigration. The Trump administration said its allies in Europe were at risk of “civilisational erasure”.
The hard-right agitator in Washington
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Sarah B Rogers, a senior State Department official, is considering funding Maga-aligned think tanks in Europe, according to The Financial Times. The State Department has been approached for comment.