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By Monica Sager
Live News Reporter
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While neither political leader has seen support above a majority of their constituents in a while, President-elect Donald Trump's favorability is still double Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's, as one prepares to enter office and the other announces his resignation.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's transition team for comment.
Why It Matters
A growing number of Liberal members of parliament have been calling for Trudeau to step down as the prime minister's popularity continues to decline. Polling suggests that Trudeau would likely be swept out of power in the next election by the opposition Conservative Party. Trudeau officially resigned as leader of the Liberal Party during a news conference on Monday, the CBC reported. He will stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen.
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Trudeau had initially gained popularity during his time in office because he pushed progressive policies. Now, however, people are bucking those ideas. The soaring costs of living, housing and immigration have significantly hurt Trudeau politically.
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What To Know
Trudeau has been the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013 and Canada's prime minister since 2015. He became the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history and was the first to be the child of a previous prime minister.
He established the Canada Child Benefit, an income-tested support program for families to receive monthly payments to help raise children. He also legalized recreational marijuana and medically assisted death. Trudeau established the federal carbon tax and he worked on trade deals like the Paris Agreement on climate and the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
His popularity has waned as Canadians have grown frustrated with the rising cost of living and other issues including immigration. Trudeau faced pressure to step down before the next parliamentary election as polls showed his party would likely be swept out of power by the opposition Conservative Party.
He has discussed with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc whether he would be willing to step in as interim leader and prime minister, The Globe and Mail reported, citing an unnamed source.
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, is the favorite to become Canada's prime minister after the election, according to crypto-based prediction market Polymarket.
What Polls Say About Justin Trudeau
Éric Grenier of TheWrit.ca looked at the surveys for CBC News and noted that the Conservatives have opened polling with a 24-point lead over the Liberals.
Trudeau's Liberal Party's support continues to slide. As of January 6 at 9:45 a.m., Trudeau is seeing 20.1 percent of the support, which is a .8 percentage point decrease since December 23.
Not only is the Conservative Party, led by Poilievre, currently ahead at 44.2 percent of support, but the New Democrat party is close on the Liberal's tail, with 19.3 percent of the projected vote.
A new Angus Reid Institute poll found that the Liberal Party's public support is at an all-time low. The report, which was released on December 30, found the lowest level of support for the party since the institute started tracking it in 2014.
Trudeau's approval has been steadily in the low 20s, according to the Angus Reid Institute. Now, however, it "plummets to an all-time nadir of 22 percent." The 74 percent disapproval rating is the highest Trudeau has faced since taking office in 2015.
With the exception of his first two years in office and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Trudeau's disapproval ratings have consistently been higher than his approval ratings. The majority (51 percent) of those that voted Liberal in the last federal election in 2021, said they disapproved of Trudeau's performance as prime minister, according to the Angus Reid Institute.
The Angus Reid Institute also found in its December 30 report that almost half (46 percent) of Canadians overall and three in five (59 percent) of Liberal supporters say it's time for Trudeau to step down and call for a party leadership race.
How Justin Trudeau Polls Compare to Donald Trump During US Election
Since February of 2021, President-elect Donald Trump has, similarly to Trudeau, seen higher unfavorable polling, according to data from 538.
That said, 10 months before the 2024 presidential election, Trump saw double the popularity support that Trudeau is currently facing. On February 6, Trump had a 42.6 percent favorable rating.
At the time of writing, 538's most up-to-date data comes from January 2, when Trump was about even, with 47.5 percent of people surveyed viewing the President-elect as unfavorable and 47.1 percent showing favorability.
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What Donald Trump Has Said About Justin Trudeau
Trump has recently taken some jabs at the prime minister, including suggesting that Canada could become the 51st state of the U.S. if it does not want to pay the proposed 25 percent tariffs suggested by the president-elect.
In December, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from her post after she criticized Trudeau for his handling of Trump's threat of 25 percent tariffs. Trudeau allegedly pleaded with the president-elect not to implement the new levy during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November. Freeland reacted by cautioning against "expensive political stunts."
"For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada," she wrote. "Our country today faces a grave challenge."
Trudeau visited Trump in Mar-a-Lago in November, making the Canadian prime minister the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the November 5 U.S. presidential election. Trump called the discussion "very productive" and said they talked about topics including fentanyl, illegal immigration, and trade.
Trudeau told reporters it had been an "excellent conversation," later writing on X, formerly Twitter: "Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again."
What People Are Saying
Trudeau said in his news conference on Monday, "There will be confidence votes in March in the passing of supply that will allow parliament to weigh in on confidence in a way that is entirely in keeping with the principles of democracy and working of our institutions."
**Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre told the CBC: "**The Canadian people are not obliged—41 million people are not obliged—to wait around while this party sorts out its s***. Like, these guys could have got rid of Trudeau a year and a half ago."
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh called for Trudeau to resign in a December letter: "Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful. The Liberals don't deserve another chance. That's why the NDP will vote to bring this government down, and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them."
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and conservative political activist, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday: "Make Canada Great Again."
Popular pro-Trump social media user Gunther Eagleman posted on X: "Just Trudeau is set to RESIGN this week ahead of caucus meetings! Trump won the election and set off a cascade! This is HUGE!"
What's Next
Canada's next election must take place on or before October 20, 2025. Trudeau's resignation could move that date forward so that a new leader and stable government are in place to deal with the incoming Trump administration.
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