Tory MP: 'We need to start taking Trump seriously'
Speaking at an Evening Standard panel discussion on "The Future of America," the MP for Spelting, Surrey, said that he found the controversial Republican candidate "repulsive" and "vulgar," but believes his policies address "real concerns."
Trump has proposed building a wall between Mexico and the USA, and suggested he will place 45% tariffs on exports from China in order to protect American manufacturing jobs.
Kwarteng, who campaigned for Brexit, has been billed as "a rising star on the right" of the Conservative party.
He said: "Trump is saying enough is enough. He's going to try and stop illegal immigration - which is legitimate because it is illegal after all - and he's going to put tariffs on China. Now we can discuss these things as policy restrictions, but we've got to recognise that they are actual policies."
"Trump is addressing real concerns, and we do ourselves down if we glibly dismiss those concerns," he added.
Kwarteng expects Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton to win on the November 8 election, but warned that if she does, "she can't govern with the status quo."
"I think people have had enough of this globalising, superficial, self-satisfied elite, and she has to recognise that," he said.
Other members of the panel included Conrad Black, the newspaper magnate, Larry Sanders, the brother of US senator Bernie Sanders, and former British Ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer.