BREAKING: Trump blasts ‘Governor’ Trudeau’s former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: ‘her behavior was totally toxic’
Monday saw the resignation of Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, the appointment of Dominic LeBlanc, and a tumultuous turn of circumstances for unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In response, President-elect Donald Trump took the opportunity to blast Freeland as “totally toxic.” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also called on the prime minister to resign.
“The Great State of Canada is stunned as the Finance Minister resigns, or was fired, from her position by Governor Justin Trudeau. Her behavior 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!!!”
Freeland resigned from the Trudeau cabinet on Monday ahead of her scheduled delivery of the Fall Economic Update in the House of Commons. The report, which was expected to show a higher than usual deficit, was not delivered in Parliament.
In her publicly posted letter, she revealed that Trudeau had asked her to step down. “It has been the honor of my life to serve in government, working for Canada and Canadians, we have accomplished a lot together. On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your finance minister, and offered me another position in the cabinet. Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet,” Freeland wrote.
“To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence in making your decision. You made it clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it,” she wrote, acknowledging that a political feud had erupted between her and Trudeau where they had “found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”
Freeland added said further that Canada should keep “our fiscal powder dry today so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means issuing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford, and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.” Freeland went on to say that she felt her responsibility was in “pushing back against America First economic nationalism by “building a true team Canada response.”
Trump and Trudeau recently met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence where the two men discussed trade concerns. Trudeau flew down within days of Trump’s announcement that he would be seeking to implement 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico if they do not deal with border security and fentanyl smuggling. Trump also indicated that he is interested in restarting the Keystone XL Pipeline to bring oil from Canada’s western tar sands to US refineries for processing. Trump joked during the meeting that Canada should become the 51st state and Trudeau should become governor of that new American territory.