Trump celebrates Doerkson's Conservative win as B.C. premier-elect faces tax-cut test

U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated the B.C. Conservatives on their election win, calling the result a "Big Victory" in posts on Truth Social. Trump wrote that "Conservatives are moving strong in Canada!" and linked to a Bloomberg article about the result. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz also acknowledged the win.

Lorne Doerkson, who led the Conservatives to the win, had distanced himself from associations with Trump while campaigning. Premier-designate Doerkson has pledged to remove the provincial sales tax at the till on Canadian beer, wine and spirits, and said in a Sept. 29 news release that "We can't let Donald Trump's bullying shut them down."

The election was a sharp defeat for David Eby and the NDP. Bloomberg described Eby's result as an "embarrassing defeat" and noted he faced backlash for calling the election two years early. Eby's campaign had argued Conservatives would bring Trump-style politics to Canada; whether that accusation rings true, HighOnCity has not been able to assess.

Most replies to Trump's post were AI-generated images of Trump. Others were critical, including one that read: "Stop trying to interfere with Canadian politics. They don't want you. For that matter, we don't want you either." HighOnCity reached out to the Conservatives for comment on Trump's post and had not received a response at time of publication.