Donald Trump took credit for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigning on Monday.
The U.S. president-elect suggested that Trudeau stepped aside because he knows Canada cannot be successful without help from the U.S.
‘The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,’ he wrote on Truth Social just hours after Trudeau’s remarks.
It appears Trump is getting more serious about wanting to make Canada the 51st U.S. state and is feeling emboldened by Trudeau’s resignation.
The PM dramatically resigned in remarks capping a spectacular fall from grace on the same day the U.S. Congress certified the 2024 presidential election results for a Trump victory.
What started as a joke during a meeting with Trudeau at the end of last year is now becoming a full-fledged and apparently serious proposal by Trump for the U.S. to envelop the neighbors to the north.
‘Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State,’ he said of the idea.
President Donald Trump again floated the idea that Canada become the 51st U.S. state as he credited his tariff plan as the reason Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down on Monday
‘If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them,’ the president-elect continued.
‘Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!’
The idea first came about during a meeting between Trump and Trudeau after the president-elect laid out his plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico if they didn’t step-up to help with the migrant and fentanyl crisis.
When Trudeau said that the plan would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked that they could just become a U.S. state and that would resolve the issue.
Members of Canada’s Liberal Party disagree on how to handle Trump in his second term.
This led to weeks of pressure from party colleagues for Trudeau to step down.
With his government in turmoil, a clearly dejected Trudeau, 53, said in his press conference on Monday morning that Parliament would be suspended until March 24 while his Liberal Party chooses a new leader.
The scion of one of Canada ‘s most famous political families had become deeply unpopular in recent years over a range of issues including the soaring cost of food and housing, and surging immigration.
Trump has repeatedly mocked the Canadian leader by suggesting his country would be better off as the 51st U.S. state and calling him Governor Trudeau.
Trump’s tariff announcement sent 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 in November, Trudeau immediately flew down to Mar-a-Lago to do damage control.
After the anticipated announcement on Monday, the president-elect doubled-down on Canada becoming a state.
Trudeau resigned as Canada’s PM on Monday after weeks of tension within the Liberal Party
Trump said Canadian people ‘LOVE’ the idea of becoming a U.S. state
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
During remarks at the Rideau Cottage residence in Ottawa, Canada on Monday morning, Trudeau made the announcement that he will step aside. Just before stepping out of his home, the papers with his speech printed on them flew off the lectern, indicating he delivered his remarks off the cuff.
‘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.
Staunch Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) credited the president-elect with ‘liberating’ Canada.
‘After tyrannical Covid abuse, destroying free speech, importing military aged male ‘refugees’, and being Zelensky’s biggest cheerleader, Trudeau RESIGNS!’ she lauded on X.
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.
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
