Former prime minister Liz Truss has signalled that she would support a return of Donald Trump to the White House.

In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Ms Truss hailed historical US leadership in helping to “successfully hold off the communist threat from the Soviet Union”.

She said: “The world would benefit from more of that kind of American leadership today.

“I hope that a Republican will be returned to the White House in 2024.

“There must be conservative leadership in the US that is once again bold enough to call out hostile regimes as evil and a threat.”

Mr Trump is the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate next year in what could be a rerun of the last presidential election.

Democratic incumbent Joe Biden defeated Mr Trump in the contest in 2020.

Mr Trump is currently embroiled in a civil fraud trial in New York over claims he and his company misled lenders and insurers between 2014 and 2021 by giving them financial statements that greatly inflated his asset values and overall net worth.

Liz Truss
Liz Truss is in Washington this week (Yui Mok/PA)

Ms Truss is in Washington this week as part of a delegation with the Conservative Friends of Ukraine.

She became the shortest serving prime minister in modern British political history when she was forced out of Government after a chaotic 49 days in Downing Street last year following her mini-budget which caused the economy to tumble.

In her article for the US publication, Ms Truss, who has also served as foreign secretary, pressed for Ukraine to be given the “weapons it needs to deliver a knockout blow to Russia”.

She also called for more defence support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression and said a nuclear deal with Iran “should be abandoned” and “tougher sanctions imposed”.

“No more cash should be funnelled to a regime that has been funding terrorists and their murderous exploits,” she said.