On Feb. 7, Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, attended a closed door meeting with business leaders and labor workers. CBS News reported that during this meeting, his mic was caught and carried over a loudspeaker which leaked part of his speech. Trudeau mentioned that Trump’s plans to annex Canada were “a real thing”.
After his second inauguration, President Donald Trump stated that he would be annexing Greenland, Canada and retaking the Panama Canal. Many thought these claims were false and uneducated. However, according to Trudeau, Trump has had meetings to discuss the annexation. Trump is after Canadian resources and would go as far to make Canada the 51st state in order to retrieve them.
However, this is not the first hot mic situation Trudeau has found himself in. According to The New York Times, on Dec., 2019, a video was leaked showing Trudeau, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands having a conversation. During this conversation, they began venting and bad-mouthing about President Trump. They joked about his love of media attention and how he was late due to a press conference. Trump, who was serving his first term at the time, was upset about the comments and canceled his press conference scheduled for the next day. When questioned about it, Trump called Trudeau “two-faced.”
On Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, Trudeau announced that he would be resigning as Prime Minister and Canada’s Liberal party leader. CNN states that he will resign as soon as the party picks a new leader. During his resignation, he mentioned his many great accomplishments including supporting Ukraine during Russia’s attacks and getting Canada through the Covid-19 pandemic. Trudeau was elected as Prime Minister in 2015 and has been serving since. His main goals were to fight climate change and get Canada’s economy ready for the future. He announced that he had one regret which was that he did not get to change the election process. He wanted to allow citizens to list a second or even third option on their ballots, however, he was not able to achieve this.
With the information that Trump is serious about making Canada a state, there is a possibility that he could wait until Trudeau resigns in order to act. He might try to convince the new prime minister of his annexation plan. Trudeau has been speaking out against the leading runner for Canada’s Conservative party, Pierre Poilievre, who shares some of Trump’s beliefs. As shown by these two slip ups, there is clearly a strained relationship between the two leaders. Trump might be waiting for someone who agrees more with him. Politicians must be careful what they say, even behind closed doors for there is always a chance that it could be used against them.
