- Brother of journalist Michelle Trudeau.
- His comic strip "Doonesbury" was the first daily comic strip ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for Best Editorial Cartoon (1975) [Before then, the prize was given only to "single panel" editorial cartoonists].
- Children with wife Jane Pauley: twins Ross and Rachel (born in 1983), and Thomas (born in 1986).
- Was the subject of controversy over his reference to U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as "brown sugar," a derogatory term aimed at African American women, in the April 7, 2004 edition of his comic strip.
- Creator, writer and artist of the comic strip "Doonesbury".
- Distantly related to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau through a common ascendant exiled from France a few centuries ago. He made a reference to his distant cousin in his October 16, 1974 cartoon strip (the week's theme was President Gerald Ford's pardon for draft dodgers in Canada).
- Modeled his "Doonesbury" comic strip character "Duke" after journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
- In the late 1960s, he attended Yale University along with future U.S. President George W. Bush and both served on the same dormitory social committee together. Another fellow student was Lanny Davis.
- Unwinds by watching bad movies with several friends in the style of MST3K.
- He is the first major comic strip artist to put his strip on hiatus for a period of time before returning.
- His "Doonesbury" comic strip character "Lacey Davenport" was modeled after New Jersey Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick.
- Was once thought to be the author of the book, Primary Colors.
- Wrote the introduction to Bill Watterson's first collection of "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoons.
- Has an artist's studio in the East 70s in Manhattan.
- He has made the cover of nine major magazines, including Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Mother Jones. In some cases his art has been on the cover itself.
- Trudeau's great-great-grandfather, James de Berty Trudeau, was a friend of John James Audubon, for whom he shot birds.
- Brother-in-law of Ann Pauley.
- Once produced a series of strips mocking the anti-abortion movement, but was pressured not to run them due to their inflammatory nature. They were later printed in The New Republic magazine.
- The walls of his studio are covered with original classic comic art -- Saul Steinberg, Jeff MacNelly, George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" and Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland".
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