U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on February 9, 2026, to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, unless the United States is “fully compensated” and receives an ownership share. Canada financed the entire $6.4-billion crossing, which Canada and Michigan jointly own.
“I will not allow this bridge to open”
In a lengthy Truth Social post on Monday, February 9, Trump said Canada has treated the United States “very unfairly for decades” and claimed the new crossing was built “with virtually no U.S. content.” He argued Canada owns both sides of the bridge — it does not — and listed grievances ranging from Ontario’s boycott of American liquor and Canadian dairy tariffs to Ottawa’s new trade arrangement with China.
“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 United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” Trump wrote. “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset.”
The threat landed weeks before the six-lane cable-stayed bridge — under construction since 2018 and the largest project of its kind on the Canada-U.S. border — was expected to open in early 2026.
What the record shows
The facts of the project are not much in dispute. Under the 2012 Crossing Agreement between Canada and Michigan, Ottawa agreed to finance, build and operate the new crossing and recover its costs over decades through tolls. The bridge is publicly owned jointly by Canada and the state of Michigan, and its steel and workforce came from both countries. Trump himself endorsed expediting the project during his first term, signing a joint statement with Canada celebrating it in 2017.
The numbers explain why a single post could rattle two countries. The Windsor-Detroit corridor handles roughly a quarter of all merchandise trade between Canada and the United States. The new bridge finally gives that trade a direct freeway-to-freeway link, connecting Highway 401 in Ontario to Interstate 75 in Michigan without a traffic light — unlike the privately owned, 95-year-old Ambassador Bridge, whose 2022 blockade idled auto plants on both sides of the border within days.
Carney calls Trump, Windsor’s mayor calls it “insane”
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Trump on Tuesday morning, February 10, before a cabinet meeting in Ottawa, and laid out the ownership, financing and steel facts directly. “This is a great example of cooperation between our countries,” Carney told reporters. “Look forward to it opening.”
In Windsor, Mayor Drew Dilkens was blunter. “It’s just insane. When I read that post, I really can’t believe what I’m reading,” Dilkens told CBC, noting that American steel was in fact used on the Michigan side of the project. In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office called the bridge “a tremendous example of bipartisan and international cooperation” and predicted “it’s going to open one way or another,” while Senator Elissa Slotkin warned the threat was “awful for our state’s economy,” promising higher costs, less secure supply chains and fewer jobs.
Critics in Washington also noted what preceded the post: reporting later confirmed the threat followed lobbying by the Moroun family, owners of the rival Ambassador Bridge, whose business stands to lose most from a public competitor.
How it ended
The February threat was not the end of the story — it was the start of a five-month standoff. U.S. Customs formally designated the bridge a port of entry effective March 2, but in June the planned ribbon-cutting was cancelled a day ahead, with Canada agreeing to delay the opening at the Trump administration’s request to resolve “technical aspects” of the project’s governance and finances. A compromise directing a share of toll revenue to the United States was reached on July 10, and the first vehicles finally crossed on July 27, 2026 — a finished, $6.4-billion bridge held up not by construction, but by politics.
