The Gordie Howe International Bridge is nearly complete!
Currently, the Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit and Windsor, and it’s the busiest international crossing in North America by trade volume. In fact, it carries a quarter of the trade between the United States and Canada1. But it’s a single bridge and it’s not ideally placed because while the American side connects to I‑96 and I‑75, the Canadian side ends on the city streets of Windsor2.
Talk about another bridge started in the early 2000s. It was slow going, having to deal with two governments. Notably, in 2017, Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement reiterating the support of the “expeditious completion of the project.” Further, the Trump Administration listed the bridge as a priority infrastructure project3.
So we’re good, right? Nope. Trump strikes again, out of the blue. He posted this rambling mess to Truth Social on Monday:
My first thought was, “Damn it, who forgot to take Grandpa’s phone away before putting him to bed?” Did you read that part about China terminating ice hockey? Jesus Christ.
So what’s changed between 2017 and now? In the interim, he’s said nothing about the bridge that I’m aware of, and suddenly this ding-bat screed. But let us not forget that this is Donald Trump we’re talking about! It has to be either something about his incredibly delicate plus-sized ego, or money.
Let me take a step back, because I haven’t told you anything about a key aspect of the situation. The Ambassador Bridge is privately owned by the Detroit billionaire Moroun family. They have been fighting the construction of the new bridge from day one. First they claimed they have the exclusive right to collect tolls on an international crossing in the area. When that didn’t work, they sought to derail the land acquisition on the U.S. side, which also ultimately failed.
So the New York Times figured out what has changed. They report that Matthew Moroun met with the U.S Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, on Monday afternoon. After the meeting, Lutnick had a telephone conversation with President Trump about the bridge4. Then late Monday afternoon, Trump posted his threat.
So there you go. It took me ten minutes to discover Moroun has donated a third of a million dollars to the Republic National Committee and dozens of Republicans running for congress. It seems an inexpensive way to curry favour. One wonders what deal he made with Trump. Whatever Moroun offered had Trump quickly post a threat to stop the opening of the bridge. A very lucrative deal, it seems.
Trump’s comment about the bridge ownership is particularly rich. The Canadian Federal Government paid the entire bill for the bridge. Once the toll revenue reimburses the Federal Government, Michigan State will be allocated a 50% ownership stake. If the U.S wanted part ownership so badly, they should have put up half the money up front to fund the construction. Again, the grifter tries to spin the facts to get something for nothing. Happily we know better! It’s just another crooked move from Crook-in-Chief Trump.
Trump talks about fair treatment and respect while his actions show he has no idea what the words mean. He started the trade war with Canada by breaking the trade agreement we shared. The agreement had an exit clause. But Trump being Trump, he just couldn’t manage to act in good faith. He neglected to take advantage of the negotiated means of exiting the agreement. He just broke it with no notice and applied ridiculous tariffs. Then he insults us by suggesting we become a state. When we politely inform him that isn’t going to happen, he threatens us by suggesting he could make it happen without our approval. Last week, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani visited Washington. His aim was to improve relations between our nations. According to Jivani6, “The President asked me to pass along a message: ‘Tell the Canadians I love them.’ ” Now this bullshit. The U.S. and Canada have been in a friendly relationship for decades. In the last year it’s turned decidedly abusive. It’s clear he no longer wants to be friends of any kind.
It is true that Trump could easily prevent the opening of the bridge. He could simply have his goons block the U.S. end of the bridge to stop all international traffic. Easy! But at the same time, we could do the same to our end of the Ambassador bridge. Equally easy.
Is it any wonder we’re pursuing trade opportunities with other countries? Anything to reduce our reliance on the United States! We used to be best friends, but the U.S. has turned into an untrustworthy, brooding, gaslighting mess. It’s just unwise to stake the livelihood of Canadians on the word of a cranky, lying, easily manipulated, dementia-afflicted Grandpa.
- Wikipedia, “Ambassador Bridge” retrieved February 11, 2026 1:09UTC.
- Wikipedia, “Gordie Howe International Bridge” retrieved February 11, 2026 3:58UTC.
- Wikipedia, “Gordie Howe International Bridge: Approvals and land acquisition,” retrieved February 11, 2026 3:58UTC.
- Tyler Pager, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, “Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada,” New York Times, February 10, 2026.
- Federal Election Commission, Search for Matthew Moroun election contributions, performed February 11, 2026
- Salma Ibrahim, “Conservative MP Jivani says Trump gave him a message for Canadians during Washington trip,” CBC News, February 4, 2026.