{"id":276642,"date":"2026-02-10T09:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/276642\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T09:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:16:09","slug":"trump-threatens-to-stop-new-bridge-opening-between-detroit-and-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/276642\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens to stop new bridge opening between Detroit and Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump today threatened to block the opening of a new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River, demanding that Canada turn over at least half of the ownership of the bridge and agree to other unspecified demands in his latest salvo over cross-border trade issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY. With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset,\u201d Trump said in a lengthy social media post, complaining that the United States would get nothing from the bridge and that Canada did not use US steel to built it.<\/p>\n

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, named after a Canadian hockey star who played for the Detroit Red Wings for 25 seasons, had been expected to open in early 2026, according to information on the project’s website. The project was negotiated by former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder \u2014 a Republican \u2014 and paid for by the Canadian government to help ease congestion over the existing Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel. Work has been underway since 2018.<\/p>\n

It’s unclear how Trump would seek to block the bridge from being opened, and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment on more details. The Canadian Embassy in Washington also did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Saginaw passes construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting on the Detroit River connecting Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, October 25, 2023. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s threat comes as the relationship between the US and Canada increasingly sours during the US president’s second term. The United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is up for review this year, and Trump has been taking a hard-line position ahead of those talks, including by issuing new tariff threats.<\/p>\n

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, has spoken out on the world stage<\/a> against economic coercion by the United States.<\/p>\n

Senator Elissa Slotkin said the Canadian-funded project is a \u201chuge boon\u201d to her state and its economic future. \u201cYou\u2019ll be able to move cargo from Montreal to Miami without ever stopping at a street light,\u201d Slotkin told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to shoot yourself in the foot and threaten the Gordie Howe Bridge means that this guy has completely lost the plot on what\u2019s good for us versus just what\u2019s spite against the Canadians,\u201d Slotkin said.<\/p>\n

Michigan, a swing state that Trump carried in both 2016 and 2024, has so far largely avoided the brunt of his second-term crackdown, which has targeted blue states with aggressive immigration raids and cuts to federal funding for major infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

Trump and Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer have also maintained an unusually cordial relationship, with the president publicly praising her during an Oval Office appearance last April. The two also shared a hug last year ahead of Trump\u2019s announcement of a new fighter jet mission for an Air National Guard base in Michigan.<\/p>\n

While Canada paid for the project, the bridge will be operated under a joint ownership agreement between Michigan and Canada, said Stacey LaRouche, press secretary to Whitmer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the busiest trade crossing in North America,” LaRouche said, saying the bridge was \u201cgood for Michigan workers and it\u2019s good for Michigan\u2019s auto industry” as well as being a good example of bipartisan and international cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon-cutting,\u201d LaRouche said.<\/p>\n

Shri Thanedar, the Democratic House representative of Detroit, said blocking the bridge would be \u201ccrazy” and said Trump’s attacks on Canada weren’t good for business or jobs. \u201cThe bridge is going to help Michigan\u2019s economy. There\u2019s so much commerce between Michigan and Canada. They\u2019re one of our biggest partners,” Thanedar said.<\/p>\n

Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor brushed aside the president\u2019s threat, saying she\u2019s looking forward to the bridge\u2019s opening later in the spring. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll be there,\u201d Dingell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat bridge is the biggest crossing in this country on the northern border. It\u2019s jobs. It\u2019s about protecting our economy. It was built with union jobs on both sides,\u201d said Dingell. \u201cIt\u2019s going to open. Canada is our ally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump today threatened to block the opening of a new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-276642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}