Donald Trump should concede defeat and “go and play golf” in Scotland if he loses to Kamala Harris, said Nigel Farage, but added that the Democratic candidate should pardon Trump to “dampen down” the threat of unrest.

Farage, a friend of Trump who has spoken at the former president’s rallies in the past, said he hoped Harris would look “magnanimous” if she secured a “clear and decisive” victory on Tuesday.

The Reform UK leader is in the US for the election but said he hoped there would be no unrest after the result. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts and is facing sentencing later in November for falsifying business records over payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels days before his victorious 2016 election.

Farage, who has criticised Labour activists for travelling to campaign for Harris, said: “If she gets in on Tuesday I hope she pardons him. She could look magnanimous and it would dampen down potential tensions.

“If it was clear and decisive then maybe it’s time to go and play golf at Turnberry,” he said. “It’s all hypothetical and I still think he is going to win.”

Farage attended Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, a key swing state where both candidates held rallies the day before the election.

He told the Telegraph: “I just hope to God it’s a clear result. It is nearly a quarter of a century ago we had the hanging chads and dimpled chads and here we are 25 years on with huge questions about how Americans conduct elections. I find it incredible.”

Farage also said he hoped Trump would bring in Elon Musk, the owner of X and Tesla, to make big cuts to US spending, saying that was aligned with Reform UK’s thinking in Britain.

“This is the sexy bit: Elon comes in and takes a knife to the deep state. Just like when he bought Twitter he sacked 80% of the staff,” Farage said. “There are going to be mass layoffs, whole departments closing and I’m hoping and praying that’s the blueprint for what we then do on our side of the pond.

“Because that’s what Reform UK believes in – that we’re overbureaucratised and none of it works. This assault on the bureaucratic state is the thing that’s really exciting.”

Farage also attended the Republican national convention in Milwaukee in July. His entry in the MPs’ register of interests says the near-£33,000 costs for him and a staffer were paid for by a Thai-based British businessman, Christopher Harborne.

Farage listed the purpose of the trip as “to support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton [his constituency] on the world stage”.