U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made jabs at a Trudeau government reeling from the resignation of Chrystia Freeland Monday night, calling her “toxic” and saying she will not be missed.
In a social media post that once again referred to Canada as a “State” and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as its “Governor,” Trump said Canada was “stunned” by Freeland’s departure.
“The Great State of Canada is stunned as the finance minister resigns, or was fired, from her position by Governor Justin Trudeau,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Her behaviour was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada. She will not be missed!!!”
His comments late Monday came after a shocking resignation by Freeland, one of Trudeau’s most trusted allies in government who played a key role in dealing with the last Trump administration, including the renegotiation of NAFTA.
Freeland announced her exit in a stunning letter that revealed Trudeau wanted to yank her from the finance portfolio, that she and Trudeau had been at odds over “political gimmicks” in the fall economic update, and that they had clashed over how best to ready Canada for the Trump administration’s threatened tariff war.
But while an antsy caucus gave Freeland a standing ovation and several rounds of applause, Trump, who has shared his disdain for Freeland before, appeared content with her departure.
He also appeared once again to take a shot at the expense of Canada amid concerns over his tariff threats and the drama those tensions have caused in Ottawa.
The president-elect first made the joke that if Canada wanted to avoid his tariffs it could become the 51st state at his Mar-a-Lago dinner with Trudeau. Canadian officials, including new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, have since tried to downplay it as good-natured humour.
Trudeau made his only public remarks Monday in a speech to supporters in Gatineau, Quebec. He acknowledged it was not an “easy day,” but promoted his government’s work and urged unity in the fight against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
It’s not yet clear how Freeland’s exit will impact Canadians’ perceptions of the Trudeau government.
Polling done by Abacus Data for the Toronto Star showed 42 per cent of Canadians had been following the news closely and 39 per cent had heard about it, compared to 19 per cent who were not yet aware of it. Among Liberal supporters, the survey showed 26 per cent support for the prime minister’s resignation, compared to 56 per cent who believe he should stay on and 18 per cent who said they don’t know.
Abacus surveyed 1,186 Canadian adults from Monday evening to Tuesday morning using online panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. While opt-in polls cannot be assigned a margin of error, for comparison purposes, a random sample of this size would have one of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
In Ottawa, Freeland’s resignation reignited calls for Trudeau to step down from an anxious Liberal caucus and threw the fall fiscal update in limbo before being it was ultimately tabled.
It also left Canada’s premiers expressing alarm as they met in the GTA Monday, saying Freeland’s resignation could not have come at a worst time.
But the premiers also vowed to push for stability amid the disarray in federal politics and said they will travel February on a Team Canada mission to promote trade to senators, congresspeople, governors and other American officials.
