Justin Trudeau became emotional during a press conference on Thursday as he was dealing with the pressure of a tariff war initiated by Donald Trump, who was approaching the end of his term as prime minister.
The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada rocketing the country into a trade war on Tuesday.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Trump announced a reversal of his tariff decision, stating that goods complying with the North American Free Trade Agreement would not be subjected to tariffs until April 2. It’s also speculated that a similar exemption might be extended to Canada.
Trump has been mocking Trudeau for months, threatening to annex Canada as the 51st state and referring to the prime minister as ‘Governor Trudeau.’
Trudeau is soon expected to hand over the reins to a new leader following the upcoming leadership elections of his Liberal Party, with a national election looming on the horizon shortly after.
Trudeau is trying to have some semblance of a victory lap after being forced to resign when it appeared he could not win the next election.
At a press conference in Ottawa discussing childhood health care, he clearly saw the end of the line and became emotional.
‘On a personal level, I made sure that every single day in this office, I put Canadians first and I have peoples’ backs and that’s why I’m here to tell you all that we got you, even in the last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down today and well into the future,’ he said as he’d clearly started to cry.
He added that he is to looking forward to ‘a transition to my duly elected successor in the coming days or week.’
Meanwhile, Trump continues to mock Trudeau and had his doubts that the prime minister was stepping down for good.
‘Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister. So much fun to watch!’
The next Canadian election will be held no later than October 20, 2025.
Mark Carney, former head of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, is the frontrunner in the Liberal leadership race with the most party endorsements and the most money raised among the four major candidates.
Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who broke with Trudeau over Canada’s fiscal position and tariff preparation after Trudeau tried to replace her, is also prominent in the race.
About 400,000 Liberal party members are eligible to cast ballots in the leadership contest.
Since Trump was reelected president in November, he has started referring to Trudeau as a ‘governor’ of Canada that could soon become the ’51st state’ of the United States of America.
Trudeau was deeply disturbed by the news of Trump’s intent to level a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods imported into the United States, describing the decision as ‘dumb.’
He announced that Canada would begin implementing 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, starting with $30 billion worth of products immediately.
‘This is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners,’ he said.
The United States imported $412 billion worth of goods from Canada in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau.
Trump has argued that the trade deficit with Canada demonstrates that the United States deserves to level more tariffs on their imported goods.
The president warned Trudeau Tuesday that the United States was willing to level additional tariffs on their country’s economy.
‘Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!’ Trump warned on social media.
‘We subsidize them $200 billion a year. Without us, Canada can’t make it,’ Trump said during a cabinet meeting last week. ‘You know, Canada relies on us 95 percent. We rely on them 4 percent. Big difference.’
Trudeau veered between anger, frustration, defiance and sadness during his extended press conference in Ottawa.
‘We’re insulted, we’re angry, but we’re Canadian, which means we’re gonna stand up for each other, we’re gonna fight…and we’re gonna win,’ he declared.
Trump has suggested that Canada should join the United States if they want to escape the tariffs.
‘I say Canada should be our 51st state. There’s no tariffs, no nothing,’ he said last week.
Trump also argues that since the United States pays largely for Canada’s military security, the country should also pay more in tariffs.
‘We protect Canada. But it’s not fair. It’s not fair that they’re not paying their way. And if they had to pay their way, they couldn’t exist,’ he said.
Canadians continue exploring ways to make the United States suffer as a result of the tariffs.
