President-elect Donald Trump is several weeks away from taking the oath of office, but his influence on the world stage is already making life difficult for embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The longtime premier of Canada has become a favorite punching bag for Trump, who has mocked Trudeau as the “governor” of the “great state of Canada” and repeatedly insinuated that Canada should become the 51st state of the United States.
Compounding the problem for Trudeau is the fact that Trump has threatened to levy a hefty 25% tariff on Canadian imports that would likely exacerbate Canada’s existing economic crisis that has lined up Trudeau’s Liberal Party for an electoral drubbing of biblical proportions.
On Monday, it got worse for Trudeau. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned her position over what were reportedly disagreements over how the Trudeau government should respond to Trump’s tariff threats. To make matters worse, Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party, whose support the Liberals depend on to maintain stability for their minority government, called on Trudeau to resign and hinted his party could vote to bring the government down before the required elections in October.
In more ways than one, Trump is responsible for the parade of problems that Trudeau is facing. The president-elect gleefully made a show of having dinner with Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago, with the Canadian premier giving the appearance of a groveling beggar desperately trying to ease tensions with the leader of his nation’s largest trading partner.
Adding insult to injury are Trump’s jokes that Trudeau is the “governor” of Canada and that the U.S.’s neighbor to the north should simply be annexed as the 51st state.
These barbs at Trudeau’s expense serve a twofold purpose: Trump is able to project strength as the leader of the U.S. while making Trudeau look weak, thus allowing the president-elect to negotiate from a stronger position. Secondly, Trump’s mockery hurts Trudeau’s standing back home in Canada at a time when his government is already woefully unpopular and is staring down an impending election. And, as evidenced by Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau is now facing a revolt from his own party.
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Unsurprisingly, Trump’s humiliation of Trudeau has galvanized Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, the primary opposition party, to renew his calls for an election with the pitch that he is best suited to take on Trump and negotiate from a position of strength.
The clock is ticking for Trudeau and the Liberals. And regardless of how Trudeau loses his post as the prime minister of Canada, his demise will come in no small part because of Trump and the mockery he directed Trudeau’s way.