Back in January, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The timing was interesting as tensions with the U.S. were heating up, leading to talks of annexation.
Now, with a full-blown trade war kicking off and heavy tariffs (along with counter-tariffs) firmly in place, U.S. President Donald Trump is calling Trudeau’s resignation into question, suggesting he’s not actually going anywhere.
On Wednesday morning, a little over 24 hours after Trump implemented a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods — a move that was met with similar retaliatory measures from both countries — he and Trudeau got on the phone to negotiate.
While many hoped for the two leaders to smooth things out, Trump’s latest social media posts tell a different story.
“Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about tariffs. I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon.
“He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.’ The call ended in a ‘somewhat’ friendly manner! He was unable to tell me when the Canadian election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power,” he added.
Trump’s Truth Social post from Wednesday afternoon points to a “somewhat” unpleasant chat with Trudeau.Truth Social
Trump, who was sworn in for a second term back in January, later doubled down as he once again referred to Canada’s prime minister as a “governor” to further insinuate that Canada should become the 51st state.
“I also told Governor [Trudeau] that he largely caused the problems we have with them because of his weak border policies, which allowed tremendous amounts of Fentanyl, and illegal aliens, to pour into the United States,” he added in another post.
For context, the Canadian Department of Finance says that less than 1 percent of fentanyl and illegal crossings into the United States come from the northern border.
Trudeau, who promised Canadians would not “back down from a fight” yesterday, has not made any posts or statements following his call with Trump this morning.
The Prime Minister, who announced the appointment of Kevin Brosseau as Canada’s new Fentanyl Czar back in February, briefly touched on the topic of border security in his Tuesday speech.
“The facts show very clearly that in terms of taking action on fentanyl, we are doing everything that is necessary. And not just for the United States, for ourselves as well as Canadians are suffering as well from the scourge that is illegal fentanyl,” he said.
While things are certainly heating up, Trudeau won’t be part of the trade war for much longer, as a new Liberal leader is expected to be announced on March 9.
