O'Leary has praised Trump personally, calling him "smart as a fox", but tended to dismiss comparisons to him by noting that, in contrast to Trump's anti-illegal immigration rhetoric and specifically his pledge to build a wall on the Mexico–United States border, "I'm of Lebanese-Irish descent, I don't build walls, I am very proud of the society we're building in Canada, I think it is the envy of the planet. There's no walls in my world. I wouldn't exist if Canada had walls." Other commentators pointed out the differences between Trump and O'Leary on other issues, including free trade, abortion, marijuana legalization and the future of NATO.