Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he intends to resign as party leader and prime minister after pressure from within his own Liberal Party increasingly grew amid heightened criticisms over his handling of the economy and threats levied by President-elect Donald Trump. He said he will resign once the party selects a new leader.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau told reporters. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it is become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
“As you all know, I am fighter and I’m not someone who backs away from a fight. Particularly when the fight is as important as this one is. But I have always been driven by my love for Canada, by my desire to serve Canadians, and by what is in the best interests of Canadians and Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election,” Trudeau added. “And it has become obvious to me with,, the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the liberal standard into the next election.”
Trudeau, who led the nation for nearly a decade, has been grappling for months with significant drops in his approval ratings over mounting frustration relating to issues like the soaring cost of living and rising inflation.
Though there was no official path for his party to boot him from the top job, the now nearly-former prime minister faced either the threat of a Parliamentary vote of no confidence, or a lengthy fight to hold on to his position until the October 2025 elections – either option was expected to see a crushing end to Trudeau’s time in office.