President Trump on Friday lavished praise on Boris Johnson, the leading contender to replace Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister.

“I like him. I like Boris Johnson. I spoke to him yesterday. I think he’s going to do a great job. I think we’re going to have a great relationship,” Trump said from the Oval Office during an unrelated event.

He then repeated his criticism of the way May handled the UK’s Brexit deal.

“I think they have done a very poor job with Brexit. I think the previous prime minister has done a very bad job with Brexit. What can I say? It’s a disaster, and it shouldn’t be that way,” he continued.

May was unable to negotiate a deal with the rest of the EU, and Johnson has advocated for a clean break from the union.

“I think Boris will straighten it out. I like Boris Johnson, I always have,” the president said about the former London mayor and UK foreign secretary who is vying with Jeremy Hunt to replace May.

“He’s a different kind of a guy, but they say I’m a different kind of a guy too. We get along well. I think we’ll have a very good relationship.”

British lawmakers, meanwhile, met the Union’s chief Brexit negotiator on Friday, seeking an iron-clad guarantee that the 1.3 million UK citizens in the bloc won’t have their rights removed and their lives disrupted if Britain leaves the EU without a deal.

The rights of UK citizens living in the 27 other EU nations, and those of the more than 3 million EU citizens in Britain, are one of the thorniest issues of the Brexit negotiations.

Their rights to live, work and study are protected under an agreement struck between the two sides — but the divorce agreement has been rejected by Britain’s Parliament, raising the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

The UK is due to leave the bloc on Oct. 31, and both Johnson and Hunt say it’s imperative that Brexit happens, with or without a deal.

Some EU member states have said they will preserve Britons’ rights, but only if the UK reciprocates.

Britain says all EU citizens living in the country can stay, but has not enshrined that right in law.

With Reuters