Trudeau to step down in Ottawa, pushed by falling polls, tariff threats and taunts from Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to step down Monday, ending his 10 years in power amid rising domestic woes, disappointing opinion polls and a push out the door from President-elect Donald Trump.

Mr. Trudeau, who has dominated the political scene in Ottawa since 2015 as head of the center-left Liberal Party, said he would step down as party leader and remain in office as prime minister until his party elects a successor.

The move sets off an uncertain scramble for power as Canadians confront the challenges posed by Mr. Trump, who has vowed to impose heavy tariffs on an economy that depends vitally on its access to the U.S. market.

While Liberals search for a new leader, the opposition Conservative Party, far ahead in polls, is pushing for a snap general election well ahead of the mandated October date.

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide, competitive process,” Mr. Trudeau announced at a press conference in Ottawa. He also suspended Parliament until March 24 to allow the intraparty leadership contest to proceed.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he said.

Mr. Trudeau’s departure was widely expected, but Mr. Trump’s proposed policies and online taunts compounded his political problems. In November, the prime minister visited the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago residence to try to calm the waters.

On Truth Social after the resignation announcement, Mr. Trump called for Canada and the United States to merge and repeated his joke of referring to the northern U.S. neighbor as the “51st state.”

“Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st state,” Mr. Trump wrote. “The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” he wrote. “If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them.”

Big troubles

Few believe the merger talk is serious. It is widely seen as a way for Mr. Trump to put bargaining pressure on the Canadian leader after their conversation regarding the influx of drugs and illegal immigrants across the U.S. border. Mr. Trudeau had plenty of domestic troubles before Mr. Trump’s trolling began.

Mr. Trudeau has been at the helm of Canada’s Liberal Party for 11 years and has served as prime minister for nine. He said in his remarks that the country needed a fresh start and blamed in part what he called the obstructionist tactics of the Conservatives that hampered his minority government.

“Parliament has been entirely seized by obstruction and filibustering and a total lack of productivity over the past few months. We are right now the longest-serving minority government in history, and it is time for a reset,” Mr. Trudeau said.

The uncertain timing of the transition could leave a weakened, lame-duck Mr. Trudeau in charge during the first few months of the second Trump administration.

Mr. Trump’s comments threatening a trade war and belittling Mr. Trudeau may have been the last straw. They add to the 53-year-old prime minister’s struggles with a weak economy, lingering resentment over his restrictive COVID-19 policies, a housing crisis and voter fatigue.

Mr. Trump vowed to impose a 25% tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. He said the import duties would fall once neighbors of the U.S. crack down on the transportation of fentanyl and the flow of illegal immigrants.

Mr. Trump called his meeting with Mr. Trudeau “very productive” in a Truth Social post. He said they discussed “many important topics,” including illegal drugs and the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which hit $41 billion in 2023.

He said they also spoke about energy, trade and the Arctic. Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area, but its population of 40 million barely exceeds that of California. It is one of the top U.S. trade partners, and some provincial Canadian governors have said the U.S. would also suffer in a trade war.

Lost magic

Mr. Trudeau has been struggling to recover the electoral magic that helped him win three general elections since 2015.

A poll from Canada’s Angus Reid Institute from late last month found that only 16% of voters said they would vote for the Liberal Party if elections were held now. A plurality said they would support the Conservative Party, and 46% said Mr. Trudeau should resign.

Mr. Trudeau, the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was popular early on for his positive views on immigration and placing women in the Cabinet. He also legalized cannabis.

Cost-of-living increases, shifting public attitudes on the benefits of immigration and questions regarding the economy’s future, including Mr. Trump’s tariffs, led to Mr. Trudeau’s fall from grace.

Mr. Trudeau’s standing was severely hurt last month when popular Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned. She said she was unhappy with how the Trudeau government was preparing for the tariff threat.

Canada faces “a grave challenge” and needs to “take that threat extremely seriously,” she wrote in a resignation letter.

“That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war …,” she wrote. “That means pushing back against ‘America First’ economic nationalism with a determined effort to fight for capital and investment and the jobs they bring.”

In an X post, she thanked Mr. Trudeau for his service and wished his family the best.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who will be the next prime minister if the polls are correct, said Mr. Trudeau’s political gambit would not save his Liberal Party from punishment from the voters.

“Every Liberal MP and Leadership contender supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for nine years, and now they want to trick voters by swapping in another Liberal face to keep ripping off Canadians for another four years, just like Justin,” Mr. Poilievre wrote on X.

Simon Hankinson, a senior fellow for border security and immigration at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, wrote in an analysis that Mr. Trudeau’s open borders policies were a key factor in his political downfall.

“The Canadian people effectively dismissed Prime Minister Trudeau after a decade of failed policies, particularly in immigration …,” Mr. Hankinson wrote. “Mass migration to Canada created an unsustainable situation in which crime rates, housing prices, displaced domestic workers, and even illegal immigration into the United States all surged, while the health care system was swamped.”

• Tom Howell Jr. and David R. Sands contributed to this report.