'Not Until Canada Treats US Fairly': Trump Threatens To Block New Bridge Between Michigan, Ontario

Last Updated:February 10, 2026, 07:27 IST

Donald Trump threatened to block the Gordie Howe International Bridge, citing unfair Canadian trade practices and slamming Mark Carney and Beijing ties.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to block the opening of a major new Canada-funded border crossing, using a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform to accuse Ottawa of unfair trade practices and to demand that Washington receive at least half ownership of the project.

In the post, Trump complained that Canada had benefited for decades from the United States and singled out the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is under construction between Ontario and Michigan.

“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, adding, “We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY."

He argued that Canada “owned both sides" of the crossing and that it was built with “virtually no US content," saying former president Barack Obama had issued waivers from the Buy American Act to allow Canadian steel and other materials.

Trump also demanded a larger American stake in the structure, writing, “With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset. The revenues generated because of the US Market will be astronomical."

Trump’s post also took aim at Canadian trade policies, including dairy tariffs, which he said had long been “unacceptable," and provincial liquor rules that he claimed keep US alcoholic products off Ontario store shelves.

Turning to geopolitics, he criticised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for seeking closer ties with Beijing, warning that China would “eat Canada alive."

He repeated his claim that Beijing would “terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada."

According to the Associated Press, Trump’s social-media broadside coincided with mounting trade friction between Washington and Ottawa during his second term, as the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact comes up for review later this year.

The bridge, negotiated by former Michigan governor Rick Snyder and paid for by Canada, is intended to ease congestion at existing Detroit-Windsor crossings and had been expected to open in early 2026.

Work on the project began in 2018.

AP reported that lawmakers from Michigan pushed back sharply on Trump’s threat.

Senator Elissa Slotkin called the crossing a “huge boon" for the state, saying it would allow freight to move from Montreal to Miami without stopping at traffic lights.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office said the bridge would operate under joint US-Canadian oversight and insisted it would open “one way or another."

Carney recently warned at the Davos forum that the US-led global economic system was undergoing a “rupture," comments widely seen as directed at Trump’s approach.

News world 'Not Until Canada Treats US Fairly': Trump Threatens To Block New Bridge Between Michigan, Ontario

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