Trump says Gordie Howe bridge won't open without Canadian concessions

[demmiblue]

President Donald Trump says he will not allow the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor to open unless Canada makes significant concessions to the U.S.

Trump said in a Feb. 9 post on Truth Social that the U.S. will open negotiations with Canada, which has footed the entire bill for the $5.7-billion bridge construction project, but believes the U.S. should probably take ownership of at least half of it.

The bridge is expected to open early this year, after construction began in 2020.

"I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the U.S. with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," Trump wrote.

"With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/09/trump-says-gordie-howe-bridge-wont-open-without-canadian-concessions/88597735007/

[yellow dahlia]

1. Please make it stop!

This Frankenstein's monster who is squatting in the WH is a stain on this country, and everything he gets near.

[LisaM]

2. Not only that...

China is going to eliminate hockey and cancel the Stanley Cup.

[LessAspin]

3. Detroit v Everybody

Sort of feels like another issue that can be used against John James, Mike Rogers, Tom Barrett, and every GOP candidate in Michigan..

Link to tweet

Add it to the list of issues to hang on these clowns that blindly follow Trump 🤡

[LessAspin]

10. 🇨🇳 China v Canada 🇨🇦

Last edited Mon Feb 9, 2026, 11:38 PM - Edit history (2)

Trump is just looking out for Canada and the Stanley Cup 🍶

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LessAspin]

13. MAGA Matty Moroun v Michigan

Last edited Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun trying to screw over Michigan one more time

Suspected this but I thought maybe Lutnick and Trump were too busy trying to cover up their Epstein Connections..

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[msongs]

4. which side needs the bridge the most? canada just say NO and post an eff trump sign on your end nt

[gay texan]

5. Really freaking smart orange dipshit

Insult a Canadian hero...

[Cirsium]

6. Tragic

My friends and I at age 12 actually rode across the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor on our bikes. No hassles, no worries.

Open borders! Kids pouring across on bikes!

[Wuddles440]

7. FUCK this POS!!!

[The Madcap]

8. Canada should pt a 200 ft tall Baby Trump

On the bridge on their side of the border.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. We can wait until 2029.

Although it’d be a shame if US automakers couldn’t get essential Canadian made parts for the next few years…

[gfarber]

11. Gordie Howe Bridge

There once was a bridge newly done,
From Windsor to Michigan run.
But Trump slammed the gate,
Cried “We’ll block it—just wait!”
Till trade wondered what he’d begun.

The Chamber up north made a fuss,
Said, “Blocking yourself’s disastrous.
Is it real? Is it bluff?
Either way it’s rough stuff—
Self-defeat dressed up as a plus.”

Canada paid for the span,
A joint little U.S.–Can plan.
So it’s murky at best
How Trump could arrest
A bridge neither owned nor quite ran.

He might cry an “emergency” spell,
That trick he’s performed rather well.
If routine feels dire,
He’ll still pull the wire—
Expanded authority to sell.

Nearby stands Ambassador Bridge,
A toll-collecting old ridge.
Owned by Moroun’s clan,
They’d rather it stand
Without fresh new steel on the edge.

Trump mused, with a toll-boothy grin,
“We should get at least half—chip in.”
Praise once flowed like wine:
“A vital link!”—back in time,
Before coherence started to thin.

Bad Bunny one day—what a ride—
Canadian bridges next tide.
From tariffs to tunes,
To geopolitical prunes,
Mentally incontinent pride.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. MaddowBlog-Trump sends Canada a silly warning: China would 'eliminate' hockey and the Stanley Cup

Sounding like a man who’s worried about his ex dating someone new, the president sent Ottawa a message that reeks of desperation.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-sends-canada-a-silly-warning-china-would-eliminate-hockey-and-the-stanley-cup

About a decade ago, as Barack Obama started wrapping up his final year as president, the Democrat traveled to Canada to deliver remarks to the House of Commons in Ottawa. To understate matters, Obama received an extraordinarily warm welcome.

In fact, an NBC News report from the time noted that he was greeted with “rapturous” applause and an extended standing ovation, which included Canadian lawmakers chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!” for quite a while.....

A decade later, Donald Trump continues to find new ways to shred that partnership. The New York Times reported:

President Trump threatened on Monday to block the opening of a new bridge between the United States and Canada if Canadian officials did not address a long and growing list of grievances, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Amid a trade war and a deepening rift between the United States and its northern neighbor, Mr. Trump said that he would ‘not allow’ the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open early this year for traffic between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, ‘until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.’

To be sure, there are a variety of unanswered questions. What does Trump expect to get from this tantrum? How exactly would he try block the opening of the bridge? Was this a sincere announcement tied to actual White House policy, or was it just some random nonsense that the Republican published to his social media platform that he had no intention of acting on?....

As is always the case, context is everything. After a year in which Trump threatened, insulted, penalized and even tried to acquire our neighbor to the north, Canada did what many traditional U.S. allies started doing in 2024: They began looking for new friends.

The more the White House took steps to try to bully Ottawa into submission, the more the Republican administration pushed Canada into China’s waiting arms.

Sounding very much like a man who’s enraged by the idea of his ex dating someone new, Trump apparently thought it would be a good idea to focus on one of Canada’s cultural touchstones, warning Canadians that if they agreed to stronger economic ties to China, the Asian giant would ban hockey.

It’s a ridiculous claim that reeks of desperation. If the American president wants to sound more persuasive and less pitiful, he’ll need fewer arguments that illicit derisive laughter.

[bif]

14. He's such a worthless POS

EVERYTHING has to be about him. Hell, my 4-year old grandson is more mature than the Rapist/pedophile/felon is.

[douglas9]

15. Billionaire donor lobbied Trump administration hours before attack on bridge to Canada

Donald Trump's threats against a bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada flummoxed some of the leaders involved with its creation, but according to a New York Times report, the president's turn may be connected to the influence of a wealthy donor.

On Monday, Trump took to Truth Social with a threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a $4.7 billion project connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, which had been set to open soon. Trump claimed, falsely, that Canada would control both ends of the bridge and that it had been constructed using no American materials. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday that he has called Trump and is working to resolve the matter.

“I explained that Canada paid for the construction of the bridge," Carney said. "That the ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada, and that in the construction of the bridge, obviously there’s Canadian steel and Canadian workers, but also US steel, US workers that were involved. This is a great example of cooperation between our countries.”

On Wednesday, the New York Times cited two anonymous administration sources who said that Trump's bridge outburst came only hours after Matthew Moroun, a Michigan-based billionaire and transportation magnate whose family owns the Ambassador Bridge, which also connects Windsor and Detroit. Moroun, the sources claimed, met with Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the White House, with Lutnick later taking a call with the president shortly before his Truth Social post.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-billionaire-canada/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

16. MaddowBlog-Democrats launch investigation into Trump's 'Bridgegate' controversy

Even in a White House known for corruption, the president’s objections to the Gordie Howe International Bridge appear quite brazen.

If you’re late to the controversy surrounding Trump and the Gordie Howe International Bridge (as I was), it’s a doozy:
- billionaire donor wants a lucrative monopoly
- he calls Lutnick
- Lutnick calls Trump
- Trump rejects his own position, does what the billionaire wants
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-17T21:59:01.375Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/democrats-launch-investigation-into-trumps-bridgegate-controversy

There was no obvious reason for Trump to make such a declaration — that is, until The New York Times reported on what happened just hours beforehand:

The billionaire owner of a bridge connecting Michigan with Canada met Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, on Monday hours before President Trump lambasted a competing span, in the latest flashpoint in the deteriorating relationship between the United States and Canada.

Matthew Moroun is a Detroit-based trucking magnate whose family has operated the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, for decades. He met on Monday with Mr. Lutnick in Washington, according to two officials briefed on the meeting who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

According to the Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, after Lutnick spoke to the well-connected billionaire donor, the commerce secretary spoke with Trump by phone. Shortly afterward, Trump issued his odd threat.

Even in a White House known for corruption, this appeared quite brazen.

In a piece for MS NOW published over the weekend, former Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan explained, “The busiest northern border crossing in the United States is the one between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. Billions of dollars of manufacturing and agricultural goods cross this border every day, as well as essential workers and professionals. This corridor is economically vital for the United States and crucially important to our national security.”

As things stand, Stabenow added, a single, privately owned toll bridge “dominates this critical trade corridor.” That bridge — you guessed it — is owned by the Moroun family, which wants to maintain its near-monopoly.....

Trump’s seemingly corrupt hysterics notwithstanding, there’s no reason for U.S. officials to oppose this project. Canada footed the bill for its construction, and it will collect toll revenue until it recoups its costs. At that point, the bridge will be jointly owned by both countries.

Yes, Trump and his White House team have come up with some creative new objections to the project they used to support, though as The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait explained, “Trump’s stated demands to open the bridge are a mixture of fantasy and contrived grievance.”

The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal went so far as to label the mess Trump’s “Bridgegate,” harking back to the scandal that did lasting harm to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.