Trump bridge threat came after US Commerce Secretary Lutnick met rival crossing owner

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s threat to block a new bridge from Detroit to Canada followed a meeting between his Commerce Secretary and a billionaire who owns an existing border-crossing bridge just miles from the new span, according to two people familiar with the matter.

On the evening of Feb 9, the President said on Truth Social he would

prevent the Gordie Howe International Bridge from opening

until Canada “fully compensated” the US, and said the US should own 50 per cent of the asset.

The social media post followed a meeting on Feb 9 between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Mr Matthew Moroun, whose family owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge, currently the busiest crossing over the border between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the sources said. Following the meeting, Mr Lutnick called Mr Trump.

The White House declined to comment. Representatives for Detroit International Bridge, the company which operates the Ambassador Bridge, and other companies where Mr Moroun holds roles did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times first reported the talks.

Construction of the C$6.4 billion (S$6 billion) Gordie Howe bridge was paid for entirely by Canada. It is largely complete and was due to open soon.

In a deal agreed over a decade ago, Canada is set to receive toll revenues until it has recouped the construction cost, after which time that money will be split equally between Canada and Michigan.

Both governments will co-own the asset. Both governments also appoint an equal number of members to an oversight body.

But the Morouns have long lobbied against Canada building a new bridge, which would rival their privately held span.

In 2012, Mr Matthew Moroun’s father Matty Moroun supported an unsuccessful statewide ballot in Michigan in an attempt to restrict the state’s ability to own or develop new international bridges.

Mr Matthew Moroun then lobbied Mr Trump during his first term to rescind a waiver granted by then President Barack Obama exempting the crossing from having to use only US steel. Mr Matty Moroun died in 2020.

Moroun companies had also filed lawsuits which would have obstructed the construction of the Gordie Howe bridge.

Mr Trump’s involvement injects fresh uncertainty into the project. 

The President wants to strike a deal with the Canadians over the Gordie Howe bridge, one of the sources said.

He spoke on the morning of Feb 10

to Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney

, who said Mr Trump asked to involve his ambassador to Canada, Mr Pete Hoekstra, who is from Michigan.

Mr Trump’s broadside against Canada, the largest buyer of US exports, is the latest in a crescendo of tensions between the two countries as they prepare to review the economically critical US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, which Mr Trump negotiated in his first term. 

Mr Trump’s rhetoric on Canada, such as calling for it to become a US state, had softened after Mr Carney replaced Mr Justin Trudeau as prime minister in an election in April 2025.

But it has ramped up again since October, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford ran ads in the US quoting former president Ronald Reagan against tariffs.

Mr Trump terminated trade talks as a result, leaving in place large tariffs on key Canadian exports to the US like aluminium, steel and autos, as well as a 35 per cent tariff on the small amount of trade not covered by USMCA.

The Washington-Ottawa relationship has deteriorated further since January, after Mr Carney struck a tariff detente with Chinese President Xi Jinping and gave a speech in Davos, Switzerland, which many saw as a critique and rallying cry against US foreign and trade policy.

Since October, Mr Trump has threatened to increase his 35 per cent tariff on Canada to 45 per cent, then floated a 100 per cent tariff, as well as a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian-made planes. None of those taxes has yet been imposed. BLOOMBERG