Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigns

Justin Trudeau resigned as the Canadian Prime Minister on Monday to cap off a spectacular fall from grace just days before Donald Trump enters office for the second time. 

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.

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.  

‘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. 

During remarks at the Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa, Canada on Monday morning, Trudeau made the announcement that he will step aside. 

Trudeau served as Prime Minister since November 2015 and resided at Rideau Cottage with his family. He and wife Sophie, whom he shares three children with, announced in August 2023 their separation.

His tenure now ends at just over eight years in the PM’s office.

Amid reports of Trudeau’s impending resignation this week, the Canadian Dollar began surging after a massive, record-breaking dip last month.

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.