Elon Musk was “just trying to encourage” Nigel Farage by tweeting that he “doesn’t have what it takes”, the Reform UK leader has said.

The billionaire adviser to Donald Trump called for Mr Farage to be replaced at the head of Reform in January during a dispute over Mr Musk’s support for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

It had followed a period of warm relations between the two men, including rumours that Mr Musk could channel a large donation to Reform through the UK arm of his social media company, X.

Mr Musk subsequently also expressed support for the now-Independent MP Rupert Lowe, suggesting he could take over Reform.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage said he had since met Mr Musk and discussed the tweet.

“We talked about it,” he said, adding: “He was just trying to encourage me in a few policy areas, ones I wasn’t prepared to go down.”

Mr Farage has consistently been opposed to allowing Robinson to join his political parties, describing him as “thuggish”.

But Mr Musk began making supportive comments about the far-right figure in January during a row over the handling of group-based child sexual exploitation in towns around the UK.

Despite the split with Mr Musk, Mr Farage has continued the praise the billionaire, insisting they are still “on good terms” and describing him as a “hero” during an appearance at a right-wing conference in America in February.