Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he plans to resign as party leader and prime minister after mounting pressure from his own Liberal Party over increased criticism of his handling of the economy and threats from newly elected President Donald Trump. He said he will resign once the party elects a new leader.
Trudeau, who has led the nation for nearly a decade, has been struggling with it for months significant drops in his approval ratings about the increasing frustration with issues such as the rising cost of living and rising inflation.
Although there was no official path for his party to remove him from the top position, the now former prime minister faced the threat of a parliamentary vote of no confidence, or a protracted fight to hold on to his position until the October 2025 elections Both options were expected to bring a crushing end to Trudeau’s term in office.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference on the aviation industry on July 15, 2021, in Montreal, Quebec. (ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
The longtime prime minister saw an increase in calls for his resignation. with at least seven Liberal MPs and also from leaders of opposition parties who called on him to step aside, following the abrupt departure of his Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, who wrote a scathing resignation letter criticizing his handling of certain economic policies and threats to his side Trump.
Freeland, once seen as Trudeau’s key ally and who helped oversee the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada deal during the last Trump administration, warned about Canada’s response Trump’s threat in November to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports will define us for a generation, and perhaps longer.
“Over the past few weeks, you and I have been at odds over the best path forward for Canada,” she wrote. “Our country faces a serious challenge today.”
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, center, Arif Virani, Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, right, and Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, during a cabinet retreat in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. Prime Minister Trudeau is preparing what he calls a ‘Team Canada’ approach to dealing with the US as the country gears up for a possible return of President Donald Trump. (Allen McInnis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TRUDEAU ON THE EDGE AS AN ALLY, FINANCE MINISTER STANDS ABSOLUTELY ON TRUMP TARIFF THREATS
‘The new administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of… aggressive economic nationalismshe continued, urging the Prime Minister to show more backbone when it comes to standing up to Trump and his “coming tariff war.”
The comments from Freeland sent shockwaves across the Canadian government, with many supporting her call to show strength in the face of the potentially difficult economic times ahead.
Trudeau, who had appointed close friend Dominic LeBlanc as finance minister, later held a special meeting with his caucus, during which: according to LeBlanche said he “heard very clearly and listened carefully to their concerns, and that he would consider them.”
FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talk ahead of a NATO roundtable at The Grove hotel and resort in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, December 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
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Trudeau’s resignation means the Liberal Party can appoint an interim prime minister to lead the country until elections next fall, potentially giving them a chance to give renewed support to the Liberal Party.
It remains unclear who is likely to take over Trudeau’s seat, but LeBlanc — who also met Trump earlier this month at his Mar-a-Lago residence alongside the former prime minister — is said to be a leading contender.
Trump has not yet publicly responded to Trudeau’s resignation and his transition team did not respond to previous questions from Fox News Digital about his impact on Canadian politics.
