Trump Says He'll Block Opening of Canada-US Bridge

President Trump is now threatening to shut down a major cross-border project he once championed, the CBC reports. The US president said in a lengthy post on Truth Social Monday he would block the opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, unless the US is "fully compensated for everything we have given them" and Canada treats the US with "Fairness and Respect." He did not specify what compensation he was seeking. CBC News said it asked the White House for clarification.

The six-lane bridge, expected to open in early 2026, is entirely funded by Canada's federal government at a cost of about $6.4 billion. Construction began in 2018 to ease pressure on the aging Ambassador Bridge, currently the main commercial crossing between the two cities and one of the busiest trade corridors in North America. The New York Times reports it's not clear how Trump would block the bridge from operating, as a public-private arrangement gives Michigan part ownership and the right to jointly operate the bridge with Canada. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office said after Trump's post that the bridge is "going to open one way or another," the Detroit News reports. But, the News points out, one option Trump may have is to decline to staff the US Customs plaza at the bridge.

The new span has been at the center of a long-running legal fight with the Detroit-based Moroun family, private owners of the Ambassador Bridge, who argue the rival crossing violates what they see as their exclusive right to collect tolls. They previously lobbied Trump during his first term to halt the project. Instead, in 2017 he joined then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in declaring the Gordie Howe project a priority and a crucial link for trade between the two countries.