Updated January 6, 2025 @ 2:55pm
President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning because he knows the United States will not put up with trade deficits with Canada.
He also said many Canadians would love to be the 51st state.
"The United States can no longer suffer the massive trade deficits and subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat," Trump posted on Truth Social after Trudeau's announcement that he will resign as Liberal leader and prime minister as soon as a new leader is chosen.
"Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned."
Trudeau has not yet stepped down but said Monday he will resign after the Liberal party holds a leadership race. The date hasn't been set but Trudeau also prorogued Parliament until March 24.
Trump reiterated his rhetoric about Canada joining the U.S., claiming there'd be no tariffs, lower taxes and more security. He posted, "Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!"
Trump's response is in keeping with his efforts to troll Trudeau and Canada since winning the election in November.
The president-elect has called Trudeau "governor" and repeated the 51st-state dig since the prime minister travelled to have dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in November.
"Trump will take credit for anything and will spin anything into an opportunity to make himself look better," said Laura Dawson, an expert on Canada-U. S. relations and the executive director of the Future Borders Coalition.
But experts says the change in Canadian leadership could not come at a worse moment for the bilateral relationship with the U.S.
Trump has threatened to implement damaging tariffs against America's closest neighbours when he takes office later this month unless the two countries stop the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S.
"We are staring down the barrel of a gun with Donald Trump's threats to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico," said Fen Osler Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa and co-chair of the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations.
"The key question obviously is: Who speaks for Canada?"
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2025.
