Justin Trudeau resigned as Canadian Prime Minister on Monday in emotional remarks that capped off a spectacular fall from grace just days before Donald Trump enters office.
The move came after weeks of pressure from his colleagues in Canada’s Liberal Party amid a significant, and growing, rift over how to handle relations with Trump in his second term.
Trump announced on social media after his reelection a plan to introduce a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada, which led Trudeau into a frenzy to try and clean-up his relationship with the U.S. president-elect before he is sworn into office later this month.
The day after unveiling the idea, Trudeau, 53, immediately flew down to Mar-a-Lago to do damage control.
During that meeting, reports emerged detailing how Trudeau pleaded with Trump not to impose the tariffs and claimed it would kill Canada’s economy.
To this, Trump suggested that the northern neighbors could become America’s 51st state, and in following weeks mocked the Canadian leader by calling him Governor Trudeau.
The reason Trump wants to impose tariffs on Canada is to pressure Ottawa to do more to secure the border and stop leaking illegal immigrants into the U.S.
Trudeau’s resignation comes the same day that Congress will move to certify the 2024 U.S. presidential election results as a victory for Trump and cement his forward movement to retaking office.
Justin Trudeau resigned as Canada’s Prime Minister during on Monday after weeks of tension within the Liberal Party
Trudeau’s party disagreed on how to handle incoming U.S. President Donald Trump after he announced a plan to implement a 25 percent tariff on Canada in order to apply pressure to help with a crackdown on the border crisis
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party in Canada set an emergency meeting for Wednesday to discuss how to handle the growing rift within the party, but Trudeau stepped aside before the gathering could take place.
During remarks at the Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa, Canada on Monday morning, Trudeau made the announcement that he will step aside.
‘I intend to resign as Party Leader, as Prime Minister, after the Party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,’ Trudeau announced in remarks delivered in English and then in French.
Before opening up to questions from reporters, Trudeau noted he’s a ‘fighter’ and suggested how difficult it was for him to make the decision to step aside.
‘I will always be motivated by what is in the best interest of Canadians, and the fact is, despite best efforts to work through it, Parliament has been paralyzed for months,’ Trudeau said, adding he couldn’t run a successful reelection while also fighting within the party.
He also revealed that his one regret is that elections were not changed in Canada to allow for voters to select their ranked decision for leadership, rather than just voting for their top decision.
‘If I have one regret, particularly as we approach this election — well, probably many regrets that I will think of,’ Trudeau said.
‘But I do wish we’d been able to change the way we elect our governments in this country so that people could simply choose a second choice, or a third choice on the same ballot.’
Trudeau will remain in power until his party selects a new leader, which they will need to do before general elections in the fall, which polls indicate conservatives will win with Pierre Poilievre as their leader.
The father-of-three served as Prime Minister since November 2015 and resided at Rideau Cottage with his family. He and wife Sophie announced in August 2023 their separation.
He disclosed that he told his kids about his decision at dinner in Sunday night.
Trudeau’s tenure now ends at just over eight years in the PM’s office.
And while he was preparing to make his historic announcement on Monday, his ex-wife was posting to Instagram about a skiing trip in Canada’s Gatineau Park.
Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie announced in August 2023 their separation after 18 years of marriage. Pictured: The former couple attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023
Trudeau’s then-wife and three kids dressed in lavish traditional Indian costumes during a 2018 trip to New Delhi (pictured)
Trudeau faced scandal when an image of him appearing in blackface at 2001 party reemerged
Amid reports of Trudeau’s impending resignation this week, the Canadian Dollar began surging after a massive, record-breaking dip last month.
Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday morning, before Trudeau’s resignation became official, that it would be ‘very good’ if Poilievre took over as Canadian PM later this year.
‘Our views would be more aligned, certainly,’ Trump said, but added: ‘We don’t need anything from Canada.’
Poilievre credited Trump with Trudeau’s resignation and said he and others displeased with the leadership are ‘relieved’ by the announcement on Monday.
But he released a video on X urging Canadians to not be duped by Trudeau’s side-step and to continue pushing for a new leadership party in the elections later this year.
‘Every Liberal MP and Leadership contender supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for 9 years, and now they want to trick voters by swapping in another Liberal face to keep ripping off Canadians for another 4 years, just like Justin,’ he wrote in a post along with a nearly four-minute video clip.
Trudeau’s resignation came after Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland stepped down in mid-December. On her way out the door, Freeland cited her differences with Trudeau on how to approach Trump’s presidency and his proposal for tariffs.
Canada is preparing for general elections at the end of October this year.
Once a highly popular political leader, Trudeau has fallen from grace in recent years – especially amid Trump’s rise to prominence. Only one if five Canadians now feel their country is heading in the right direction with Trudeau at the helm.
And even Trudeau couldn’t downplay the importance of secure borders after he announced in October that Canada would sharply cut the number of new immigrants allowed into the country.
He admitted that the influx of permanent citizens over the last four years – a period where President Joe Biden was also leading the U.S. in record-breaking illegal immigration – was applying too much pressure on the housing market.
This comes after Trudeau often bragged about how Canada was better at welcoming immigrants and newcomers than other western countries.
‘Even Justin Trudeau wants to close Canada’s borders,’ President-elect Trump noted.
In December, just a month after winning a second term, Trump announced his new idea for tariffs.
He unveiled the plan to impose a 25 percent tax on goods from Mexico and Canada in retribution for declining to help more with the fentanyl and migration crisis.
And for China, he wants an additional 10 percent tariff on top of other tariffs.
Trump denied in a Monday morning post that his plan will be pared back, as noted in one report on his proposal.
‘The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong,’ Trump posted to Truth Social.
‘The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News.’
Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on November 25 his intentional to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico to apply pressure on the North American neighbors to do more to help quell illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking
