President Donald Trump said on Monday he would try to block the opening of a major new bridge linking the United States and Canada, escalating a growing dispute with Washington’s northern neighbour over trade and other economic issues.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would “not allow” the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a 1.5-mile crossing between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, to open until the United States was “fully compensated for everything we have given them” and Canada treated the U.S. with what he called “fairness and respect.” He added that negotiations would begin “immediately.”
The bridge, which is designed to ease congestion at one of North America’s busiest commercial border crossings, has completed major construction and is expected to open later this year following testing and safety certification. It will provide an additional route for passenger vehicles and trucks between the two countries, which together account for hundreds of billions of dollars in annual cross-border trade.
It was not immediately clear what legal or administrative authority Trump could use to prevent the bridge from opening. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. CNN, which first reported Trump’s remarks, said it had contacted the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority for responses.
Trump also made inaccurate claims about the project’s ownership and construction. He wrote that Canada “own(s) both the Canada and the United States side and, of course, built it with virtually no U.S. content.”
Under a 2012 agreement between Ottawa and Michigan, the more than $4 billion bridge is being financed, built, operated and maintained by the Canadian government, but it will be jointly owned by Canada and the state of Michigan. The agreement also requires that iron and steel used in the project be produced in either the United States or Canada and that neither country be favoured.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told Canada’s CBC News that U.S. steel was used on the Michigan side of the project. Responding to Trump’s statement, Dilkens said he was surprised by the president’s comments and said the bridge had been built under clear bilateral rules.
The Gordie Howe bridge is named after the late Canadian ice hockey star and is intended to serve as a second major crossing in the Detroit–Windsor corridor, supplementing the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which carries a large share of the roughly $400 billion in goods that move annually between the two countries.
Trump’s comments come amid a deterioration in relations between Washington and Ottawa. Tensions increased after Prime Minister Carney, speaking earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, urged what he described as “middle powers” to work more closely together in response to the influence of global superpowers.
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In late January, Trump said he would move to decertify aircraft manufactured in Canada and threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Canadian planes. He has also warned of broad trade penalties if Canada deepens economic ties with China.
In Monday’s post, Trump said the United States would impose a 100 percent tariff on all Canadian goods if Canada made a trade deal with Beijing, adding that such a move “will eat Canada alive.”
Last month, Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the two countries announced a “new strategic partnership.” Canada said it would ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and allow up to 49,000 such vehicles into its market each year. China is expected to lower tariff barriers on several Canadian exports, including canola seed, lobster and peas, later this year.
Trump also criticised Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, saying it “won’t even put U.S. spirits, beverages, and other alcoholic products on their shelves.” Ontario and other provinces removed U.S. alcoholic products from their government-run liquor stores last year in protest against U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.
The dispute over the bridge contrasts with Trump’s earlier stance during his first term. In 2017, he and then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement calling the Gordie Howe project “a vital economic link between the two countries.”
The bridge is intended to improve traffic flow and reduce delays at the border, which are costly for manufacturers and suppliers on both sides. The Detroit–Windsor corridor is a key artery for the North American auto industry, with vehicle parts and finished cars crossing the border multiple times during production.
Michigan officials have warned that any attempt to block the opening would hurt the state’s economy. Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, said on social media that stopping the project would have “serious repercussions” for jobs and trade in the region.
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“The president is punishing Michiganders for a trade war he started,” Slotkin wrote. “Canada is our friend — not our enemy.”
Canadian officials have not yet publicly responded to Trump’s remarks on the bridge. In past statements, Ottawa has said the project reflects a long-standing commitment to maintaining open and efficient trade with the United States and strengthening shared infrastructure.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has said that, once construction is complete, the project must go through inspections and regulatory approvals on both sides of the border before it can open to traffic. Those processes are expected to continue in the coming months.