A tearful Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he was stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party and would leave the PM post once a new leader is chosen.
Trudeau made the announcement from Ottawa on Monday.
According to CNN, “Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party for 11 years and prime minister for nine, was facing a mounting set of crises, from Donald Trump’s tariff threats to the resignation of key allies and disastrous opinion polls. His resignation would be seen as the PM choosing to jump before he is pushed, ahead of a general election to be held later this year that he is widely expected to lose.”
During his announcement, Trudeau said, “I’m a fighter. Every bone in my body has told me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians, I care deeply about this country, and 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, after what has been the longest session of a minority parliament in Canadian history. That’s why, this morning, I advised the governor general that we need a new session of parliament.”
Trudeau said parliament will reconvene on March 24.
Also read: ‘Bring it on’: Defiant Raskin responds to GOP threats of retaliation for J6 investigation
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” Trudeau said. He continued, “This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
Trudeau met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November to discuss the U.S. president-elect’s threat to impose enormous tariffs on Canadian goods. Trump has claimed that drugs and migrants have been flowing into the United States from Canada and Mexico.
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families. We also spoke about many other important topics like Energy, Trade, and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in Office, and before.”
Trump has also trolled Trudeau by calling Canada a U.S. state and the prime minister its “governor.”
This is a breaking story and has been updated.