Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken directly with Donald Trump after the president’s threat to block the opening of a new bridge linking Windsor and Detroit.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to open later this year, easing congestion at the busiest border crossing in North America.
The two leaders spoke by phone on a number of issues, but the threat not to allow the opening of the new Gordie Howe Bridge was the most pressing.
Trump claimed in a social media post that the US was getting nothing from the project, and that it was built with virtually no American content or workers. Carney reminded Trump that Canada paid for the entire project, and he’s supported by some key U.S. political figures.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke for the oval office.
“He also believed that the U.S. should own at least half of the bridge, have shared authority over what passes across it, and participate in the economic benefits generated by its use,” she said.
But Carney reminded the president during their telephone conversation that all that and more is already part of the bridge agreement.
“I explained that Canada, of course, paid for the construction of the bridge, over four billion dollars,” he said. “The ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada, and that in the construction of the bridge, obviously there’s Canadian steel, Canadian workers but also U.S. steel, and U.S. workers were involved.”
According to data from the government of Ontario, the project supported 12,670 jobs in Michigan with more than 8,800 American laborers and trades doing the work on U.S. components of the bridge.
It took decades to negotiate an agreement to build the bridge and in 2017, during his first term in office, Trump was in favor of the bridge.
Rick Snyder was the governor of Michigan at the time. He says he was surprised by Trump’s turnaround, adding that he must have received bad advice from his advisors.
“If you go through the Truth Social Post, it talks about how the U.S. should have half the bridge. It talks about there’s no U.S. materials in the bridge. All those things were inaccurate,” said Snyder, who suggests the bridge is more important than ever.
He also expressed gratitude to Canada.
“Canada financed the entire bridge,” Snyder added. “There was no money put up by Michigan or the United States for the actual bridge itself. So, we had no obligation, no liability. We will have 50 percent ownership, the state of Michigan and the country of Canada will get repaid all its funded money plus interest. And then we’ll be fifty-fifty partners. That’s a fabulous deal for our country.”
Canada will collect tolls on the bridge until the costs are paid for, then revenue will be shared evenly with the U.S.
Windsor mayor Drew Dilkins said he was surprised by Trump’s threat against the bridge. He says it’s been 25 years of talks, and then construction.
“The bridge is fully constructed. The ports of entry are done. The connection to the interstate systems on both sides of the border are done. We’re literally just waiting to cut the ribbon and open the bridge,” Dilkins said. “In normal times this would be a monumental event where you have a U.S. president meet the Canadian prime minister in the middle of this bridge, cut the ribbon, and shake hands and celebrate the binational relationship.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford took the situation in stride, and did not angrily respond to Trump’s threat, saying he’s confident the bridge will open. He also stated a reminder to the White House that there’s more than economics at stake.
“I’ll tell you the reason why it’s going to open. Because it’s in the best interests of the American economy, the Americans, the 13 Congresspeople that are going for re-election in the midterms, which the Republicans own probably seven of those seats and one senate seat,” Ford said.
Michigan’s current governor, Gretchen Whitmer, is also pushing back against Washington stressing the economic importance of the bridge, saying it’s important that it continues to move forward and open up on time.
Meanwhile the New York Times is reporting that the owner of the Ambassador Bridge, billionaire Matthew Moroun, met with a White House official just hours before Trump posted his threat on Truth Social. The Moroun family has tried several times to stop construction of another bridge between Windsor and Detroit.
