In no country have the political effects of U.S. President Donald Trump been more dramatic than in neighboring Canada. By December 2024, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party was deeply unpopular after his decade in power, with voters favoring his Conservative Party rival Pierre Poilievre by more than twenty-five points. Then came Trump’s return to the White House. Canadians voted to keep the Liberals in office for a rare fourth consecutive term, delivering a strong mandate for new Liberal leader Mark Carney, though it is still unclear if his party will secure enough seats to form a majority government. In a stunning reversal, Poilievre, the recent frontrunner, failed to clinch his own riding, though his party made impressive gains. Instead of facing a sympathetic Conservative prime minister in Poilievre, Trump now faces a Liberal who sold himself to voters as the best man to “stand up to Donald Trump,” and a Canadian population that has rallied behind him.
What Mark Carney’s Election Win Means for Trade and U.S.-Canada Relations (Edward Alden, Inu Manak – Council on Foreign Relations)
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