Another day, another threat from Trump. Out of the blue, his time it is over a bridge, entirely agreed on with previous US administrations, and entirely financed by Canada, costing some 6 billion. It's a big bridge and would alleviate problems due to heavy travel and trucking, back and forth between Windsor, Ont. and Detroit Mich. Past agreements with the US aren't worth the paper they are written on. The rupture and trust between Canada and the US grows ever wider.
Trump demands ‘at least’ half U.S. ownership of Gordie Howe bridge that Canada is fully paying for‘I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,’ Trump wrote of the structure that connects Windsor and Detroit
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 The Gordie Howe International Bridge viewed from downstream along the Detroit River, Oct. 25, 2025. Photo by Doug Schmidt/Postmedia
President Donald Trump said he would start negotiations with Canada over a bridge project to connect Michigan and Ontario, threatening to block its opening until the U.S. was given adequate compensation and owned “half of this asset.”
“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 said on social media Monday. “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset,” he added.
The president included a picture of the $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge project, connecting Detroit and Windsor, in the post. The bridge, which is expected to open to traffic soon pending formal tests and approval, is being financed by the Canadian federal government, with the expectations the costs will be paid for by bridge tolls.
In 2012, former prime minister Stephen Harper announced the construction of the bridge, and it was later announced it would be named after the hockey legend who starred for the Detroit Red Wings. Construction on the bridge began in 2018.
The Government of Canada website says the project will provide an additional crossing option at “one of the busiest Canada-U.S. commercial border crossings.”
It says many permanent jobs will be created for the operation and maintenance of the bridge and Ports of Entry once open. It also says the bridge will provide “the capacity to increase trade and encourage investment between Canada and the U.S., supporting the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world.”
Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce said in a statement that “blocking or barricading bridges is a self-defeating move.” Laing said the Trump administration was right in 2017 in its joint statement that endorsed the bridge as a priority project. She added that modern border infrastructure strengthens shared economic security. “Through decades of collaboration, Canada and the United States build things together, create jobs together and compete globally together,” said Laing. “The path forward isn’t deconstructing established trade corridors, it’s actually building bridges.”
Stacey LaRouche, press secretary to Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, said the Gordie Howe International Bridge is “all about jobs.”
“It’s good for Michigan workers and it’s good for Michigan’s auto industry,” said LaRouche, noting that the construction of the bridge was financed by Canada and that it was built by union construction workers from both sides of the border. “This project has been a tremendous example of bipartisan and international cooperation.”
Trump’s comments are the latest broadside against Canada, as the U.S president ratchets up tensions with a major trading partner. Trump has recently threatened to hit Canadian goods with a 100 per cent tariff if the country made a trade deal with China and has expressed annoyance at remarks from Prime Minister Mark Carney at Davos that offered an implicit denunciation of the U.S president’s foreign and economic policies.
Last month, Trump also threatened to impose a 50 per cent tariff on aircraft from Canada and decertify new planes made there.
The deal between Ottawa and Beijing essentially swapped canola sales to China for a quota of electric vehicle sales to Canada. But Trump has cast the deal as a threat, arguing that it would give China undue influence over the U.S northern neighbour, reiterating those criticisms on Monday.
“Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We’ll just get the leftovers! I don’t think so,” Trump said.
The U.S president also assailed Canada over levies on dairy imports, saying those tariffs were “unacceptable” and put “our Farmers at great financial risk.”
He further warned that “the first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.”
The latest spat comes as the U.S and Canada prepare to renegotiate a continental trade pact — the USMCA — which Trump agreed to in his first term.
The government of Canada, bridge authority, the Ontario premier’s office and Michigan governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— With additional reporting from The Canadian Press
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