Justin Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister of Canada on Monday.
The move came after weeks of pressure from his colleagues in Canada’s Liberal Party amid a significant, and growing, rift over how to handle relations with Donald Trump in his second term.
Trump announced on social media after his reelection a plan to introduce a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada, which led 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, Trudeau immediately flew down to Mar-a-Lago to do damage control.
During that meeting, reports emerged detailing how Trudeau, 53, pleaded with Trump not to impose the tariffs and claimed it would kill Canada’s economy.
To this, Trump suggested that the northern neighbors could become America’s 51st state, and in following weeks mocked the Canadian leader by calling him Governor Trudeau.
The reason Trump wants to impose tariffs on Canada is to pressure Ottawa to do more to secure the border and stop leaking illegal immigrants into the U.S.
Trudeau’s resignation comes the same day that Congress will move to certify the 2024 U.S. presidential election results as a victory for Trump and cement his forward movement to retaking office.
