He said: “I have come home with copious notes of how they increased the turnout, voter registration and so much more, and all of this I intend to implement as part of the professionalisation of our party.

“It is also heartening to listen to Elon speak about UK politics with such deep care. He regards the mother country of the English-speaking world as being in very deep trouble.

“Inevitably, following such intense media speculation, the issue of money was discussed and there will be ongoing negotiations on that score.”

The Telegraph understands that Musk has significant concerns about the UK’s Online Safety Act, which requires social media companies including X – which he owns – to regulate their content.

Scrapping or amending the legislation may become a key request of Trump when he enters trade negotiations with Britain next year.

Trump’s team has warned that the UK must choose between a closer trade relationship with either the US or the EU, suggesting that talks could end with tariffs of up to 20 per cent on UK exports if the incoming president is not placated.

Farage said that, during his visit to Mar-a-Lago, several of Trump’s allies had asked him about Starmer’s decision to sign away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which some Republicans think will threaten the Diego Garcia airbase.

“I was able to assure them that the Chagos Islands’ surrender was not only wholly unnecessary but represented a bad deal for the United Kingdom, America, the free world and not least the Chagossian people,” he said. “I promise the Labour government there is trouble ahead on this issue.”

In a sign of Farage’s growing familiarity with the new Trump administration, he also met J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect.

Vance has spoken to Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, since the US election last month, but no party leader other than Farage has met Musk.

In a statement, Farage said: “I had a great meeting with vice-president elect J.D. Vance yesterday. He is a friend of mine and I have known him for 14 years – Kemi Badenoch has known him for 14 days.

“I have always said I will help this government with contacts. It isn’t just President Trump and the incoming vice-president, but I have known large numbers of the cabinet for many years.

“I will always do what is in the national interest, and renewing our strong ties with America after four years of Joe Biden can only be a good thing for our country.”

On her recent trip to Washington, Badenoch said she was “excited about Doge”, an efficiency project Musk will lead next year, describing its work as “absolutely brilliant”. But he has declined to return her warm words, preferring to criticise Starmer and back Farage.

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During riots across the UK in August, he posted online that “civil war is inevitable”, drawing criticism from a Downing Street spokesman, who said there was “no justification for comments like that”.

After Labour imposed inheritance tax on British farmers, he claimed the UK was “going full Stalin”. He also supported a petition for a new general election last month, writing online: “The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.”

As a US citizen, Musk cannot legally donate to a UK political party, but he could give Reform money via the British branch of X.

A contribution of £78 million would easily eclipse the biggest single-party donation in British history – a £10 million gift by Lord Sainsbury to the Conservative Party in 2023. It would also deal a major blow to Labour and the Conservatives, who are challenging Reform in dozens of local council elections in May.

Lord Mandelson, the Labour peer in contention to be the UK’s next ambassador to the US, has said the government must use Farage and other Trump allies as a “bridge” to Musk, and that it would be unwise to ignore him.

The Telegraph, London