Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau considers resigning over tariff threat: report

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau considers resigning over tariff threat: report
FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during news conference with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reportedly considering submitting his resignation after a public battle over the economy amid U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats.

Sources told CTV News that Trudeau told his cabinet that he was considering prorogation or resignation and potentially planning to address Parliament this afternoon.

Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit Monday morning in a surprise move after disagreeing with Trudeau over the threats. In a post on X, she said that she was offered a different position, but upon reflection just assumed she'd leave.

"Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 percent tariffs. We need to take that threat extremely seriously," Freeland wrote in her resignation letter.

"That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war," she continued. "That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment. That means pushing back against 'America First' economic nationalism."

CTV's official pollster Nik Nanos called the ordeal a disaster for Trudeau.

"Justin Trudeau just learned what it's like to be thrown under the political bus," said Nanos in an interview. "I can't envision what Justin Trudeau can do right now to fix this."

By Monday afternoon, Trudeau's party was in disarray, with leaders debating whether or not they had confidence in his leadership. Meanwhile, conservative leaders called the country "out of control."

Last week, Trump mocked Trudeau on TruthSocial in a late-night post where he continued his mockery at Canada. Trump told Trudeau that Canada should simply decide to become the 51st state of the United States.

"It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada," Trump posted at 12:06 a.m., degrading the prime minister's office and his nation's autonomy.

The prime minister warned that a 25 percent across-the-board tariff would devastate the Canadian economy and create "real hardship for Americans."

"Americans import 65% of their crude oil from Canada, significant amounts of electricity," Trudeau said. "Just about all the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States. They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a range of agricultural imports. All of those things would get more expensive.”

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A top aide of Donald Trump has been mysteriously demoted after a meteoric rise through the administration’s ranks.

Josh Gruenbaum, 40, will now only work for Trump’s Board of Peace, according to a report by Politico.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the outlet that Gruenbaum “will continue to advance the President’s agenda of enhancing stability in his role at the Board of Peace.”

The former Wall Street executive began working in the White House during this administration alongside billionaire Elon Musk, serving in the General Services Administration for the highly controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Using his position with the budgeting taskforce as a stepping stone, Gruenbaum then began working in high-profile foreign policy work with Special Envoys Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff. According to Politico, Gruenbaum helped in the original ceasefire negotiations for the Gaza Strip.

All three government aides continued their foreign policy work, despite their lack of experience, and failed to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine, and later Iran.

Sometime last week, according to Politico, Gruenbaum was subtly dismissed from most of his foreign policy assignments. An anonymous source said Gruenbaum clashed with senior advisors across the White House – alienating them through his abrasive work style and constant self-promotion.

"Gruenbaum’s penchant for self-promotion and an abrasive work style rankled some of Trump’s other senior advisers, one of the people said," according to Politco's report.

"He flooded various administration officials with phone calls and was seen as very focused on how his name appeared in stories and official communications, the person added."

While Kushner and Witkoff were not involved with his change in rank, Politico reports they remain Gruenbaum’s allies.

An anonymous source mocked the aide’s fall from grace. “This is a guy that a couple of months ago, Steve and Jared brought to meet Putin, and now he’s gonna be sharing an office with Kristi Noem, basically,” the source told Politico.

Brad Klapper, the Board of Peace spokesperson, said, “We are very grateful to have Josh helping us advance one of the president’s signature foreign policy objectives: peace and prosperity in the Middle East,” reassuring he is a “critical leader of this effort.”

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President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has served three terms as president and bragged about passing his cognitive exams — something he thinks all presidential or vice presidential candidates should be "forced" to do.

The boast about his mental fitness came amid a flurry of Truth Social posts in which he inaccurately referred to having served a triple term as president. Trump has only served two terms as commander-in-chief.

He also unleashed insults at former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, whom he has often targeted via social media rants.

He wrote the following on his platform:

"Anybody running for President or Vice President should be forced to take a Cognitive Examination prior to entering the Race! By doing so, we wouldn’t be surprised at people like Barack 'Hussein' Obama, or Sleepy Joe Biden, getting 'ELECTED.' Our Country would be a much better place! I took the Exam three times during my ('THREE!') Terms as President, and ACED IT ALL THREE TIMES — An Achievement that, even on a single Exam, according to the Doctors, has rarely been done before! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Podcaster Joe Rogan expressed the view that President Donald Trump's war with Iran would be to blame if a nuclear weapon were used on New York City.

During a discussion with comedian Ari Shaffir on Thursday, Rogan lamented Israel's bombardment of Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

"They've destroyed Gaza," he explained. "Gaza's just a wasteland now. I mean, someone posted a recent video of Gaza, like what it looked like now."

"It's crazy. It looks like they dropped a nuke. They just did it slowly instead of dropping one nuke," he continued. "But guess what? Those kids that live in Gaza, they didn't do October 7th. They didn't do it."

Rogan speculated that a similar scenario could take place in New York City.

"It's like what we did to Iran. What if Iran nukes New York City?" he asked. "Those kids that live in the Bronx, they had nothing to do with what happened in Iran, and so, like, is that okay?"

"Like what are we talking about, this is it's [expletive] nuts," he added.

"We gotta start figuring out a peace thing, and then that's all that's all gone now," Shaffir remarked.

"It's all gone," Rogan agreed.

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