A former high-ranking Canadian official known for her contentious exchanges with President Donald Trump is authoring a book focused on the strained diplomatic ties between Canada and America.
Publishing house Simon & Schuster revealed Wednesday that Chrystia Freeland’s upcoming work, titled “Unreliable Boyfriend,” is scheduled for release on October 13th. Freeland previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
“This is a book about power, democracy, and the choices countries make when the old rules no longer seem to apply,” Freeland explained in a publisher’s statement. “As a Canadian negotiating with the United States during years of extraordinary political turbulence, I had a front-row seat to historic change. I wanted to tell the story of what I saw — and what it means for the future.”
Before entering the political arena, Freeland established herself as both an author and journalist, bringing expertise in Russian and Ukrainian affairs along with educational credentials from Harvard University and the University of Oxford. Following Canada’s 2015 electoral cycle, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named her to the international trade ministry, launching a decade-long tenure in various governmental roles.
During Trump’s initial presidential term in 2017, she became a target of criticism from the president while both nations negotiated what eventually became the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “We’re very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don’t like their representative very much,” Trump remarked during that period.
More recently in 2024-25, as Trump made threats regarding tariffs on Canadian goods and floated the idea that Canada would benefit from becoming America’s 51st state, she labeled him an “existential threat” to her nation’s prospects. Trump has responded by calling her “totally toxic” and a “terrible person.”
Freeland’s relationship with Trudeau soured, leading to her cabinet resignation in 2024 over disagreements about Trump policy responses, ultimately contributing to Trudeau’s political exit. She has subsequently worked within Prime Minister Mark Carney’s administration and taken on a special diplomatic role regarding Ukraine. This July, she will assume leadership of Rhodes House as Warden and serve as CEO of the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, managing the prestigious scholarship initiative. She earned her own Rhodes scholarship in 1993.
