Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he plans to step down as leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister, amid calls for his resignation within his own party over the past year that reached a tipping point when President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats drove a wedge between Trudeau and his allies.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves Parliament Hill after attending a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Canada on December 20, 2024. (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- Trudeau said he will step down “after the party selects its next leader,” noting, “Parliament has been paralyzed for months after what has been the longest session of a minority Parliament in Canadian history.”
- “It’s become obvious to me with the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the liberal standard into the next election,” Trudeau said.
- Trudeau said he made the decision over the holidays and asked Liberal Party leaders on Sunday to begin the process for selecting a new leader.
- Trudeau said he asked parliament to take a recess until March 24 to give the Liberal Party time to select a new leader, who will then assume the position of prime minister.
- Trudeau, who has led the Liberal Party for 11 years and has been prime minister for nine, has faced growing calls for his resignation over the past year, with his caucus reaching a majority consensus at the end of December that he should step down, Politico reported.
- Trudeau’s resignation comes after his deputy prime minister and finance chief, Chrystia Freeland, quit in December, citing a feud with Trudeau over how to handle Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canada.
- Canada must elect a new prime minister in a general election before Oct. 20, and polls show Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre leads Trudeau by double digits when it comes to voters’ confidence in who is better equipped to deal with Trump, while the Liberal Party lags far behind Conservative in polls.
Why Is Trudeau Resigning?
Trudeau, 53, was widely expected to resign Monday after reports surfaced a day earlier that he would announce the decision ahead of his party’s national caucus meeting Wednesday, avoiding a potential public ouster.
Trudeau has feuded with Trump in recent weeks after Trump announced plans in November to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, demanding the countries tamp down on drug trafficking and illegal immigration. While the two met at Mar-A-Lago in November, Trudeau subsequently criticized Trump’s tariff proposal and Trump mocked Trudeau on Truth Social, calling him “Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” a nod to his suggestion that Canada should become the 51st state.
Freeland reportedly disagreed with Trudeau’s proposal to impose a two-month holiday tax break designed to appeal to working-class Canadians, arguing that Canada needed to shore up its reserves to deal with the potential economic impacts of a Trump presidency.
What Has Elon Musk Said?
Elon Musk, who has used his X platform to increase his influence in US and global politics, has slammed Trudeau and expressed support for Poilievre in recent weeks. Musk called Trudeau an “insufferable tool” in a post on X after the Canadian prime minister likened Kamala Harris’ election loss to an attack against women’s rights, and he praised a recent podcast featuring Poilievre as a “great interview.”
