Justin Trudeau's Resignation

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Part of a series on Justin Trudeau. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Justin Trudeau's Resignation refers to the announcement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on January 7th, 2025, that he would be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party and resigning as prime minister after a nine-year run. Trudeau cited internal party struggles and mounting political pressure as reasons for his decision, spawning a wave of media coverage, online reactions and memes relating to United States President-elect Donald Trump and his series of comments pushing the idea of Canada, and other territories less so, joining the United States as its 51st state.

Background

On January 6th, 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down and end his nine-year run as leader, stating that internal battles within the Liberal Party had made it impossible for him to continue effectively.^[1] Trudeau^[2] spoke to reporters on January 7th and said that he would stay in office till March 24th, 2025, until his Liberal Party can choose a new leader.

The press conference, posted to his official X / Twitter account on January 7th (seen below), amassed more than 1.2 million views and 20,000 likes in a few hours.

Online Reactions

Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement, reactions on social media were swift and polarized with a fair share of jokes and memes about who will replace him spreading in early January 2025 amid the discourse.

For instance, on January 6th, 2025, X^[3] user @mythical_kat posted a picture of Justin Trudeau and singer Carly Rae Jepsen, writing, "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reportedly set to resign, Carly Rae Jepsen is in talks to be the new prime minister of Canada." The tweet (seen below) amassed more than 35,000 likes and 3,600 reposts in a day.

On the same day, X^[4] user @TheRicanMemes posted a montage of United States President-elect Donald Trump throwing Trudeau in the garbage (seen below), which garnered over 514,000 views and 4,500 likes in a day.

Canada 51st State

Canada 51st State refers to memes and jokes about Canada, and other territories less so, joining the United States as its 51st state. President-elect Donald Trump made a series of comments pushing the idea in December 2024, calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "Governor Trudeau," citing immigration issues with the U.S.-Canada border and highlighting Canada's $100 billion trade deficit with the U.S. as reasons why the country should join the United States.

After Trudeau's resignation as Prime Minister became a viral topic, the Canada 51st State debate resurfaced online, as X^[5] user @MrJoKeR604 tweeted on January 6th, 2025 "PM Trudeau resigns and immediately Trump starts posting about his Canada 51st state fantasy." The post (seen below) gained more than 656 likes and 102 reposts in a day.