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In Brussels Wednesday, he said of Trump, “He’s so awful. And the more awful he becomes, everyone else looks better in comparison.”

This gives Canada a more important role, he said, as “almost a kind of mirror to the United States. … I wouldn’t underestimate how important the role that Canada could now play because of your proximity. You can be a kind of early warning system.”

He’s so awful. And the more awful he becomes, everyone else looks better in comparison

Brannen is a member of the Labour Party, advocated for the U.K. to stay in the EU and is part of a left-leaning political grouping within his parliament. He acts as a deputy chair of a delegation that looks at the Canada-EU relationship.

The chair of that delegation, German MEP Bernd Kölmel, is part of a right-leaning group in the parliament. He wasn’t ready to laud Trump either but said the president has shown how necessary it is for the EU to engage with likeminded states such as Canada.

“A fourth of his presidency is gone, and we’ll be alive until the end. And we will see a new president,” said Kölmel, apparently convinced the Republican leader will not move on to a second term.

Trump has insisted on an “America first” policy that signals growing protectionism — but this isn’t the first time a U.S. president has used such language, Kölmel said. “And I think we will see with the next president more or less the same policy.”

A fourth of his presidency is gone, and we’ll be alive until the end. And we will see a new president

In watching a discussion between Trump and Trudeau Wednesday, he said he was watching for any comments on migrants and climate change, in addition to inevitable talk about NAFTA.