Jakarta –
President of the United States (US) Donald Trump threatened to prohibit the opening of the bridge connecting the US and Canada, namely the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Trump says he wants Washington to be compensated for everything it has given Canada.
Reported by the BBC, Tuesday (10/2/2026), this bridge connects the province of Ontario in Canada with the state of Michigan in the US. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the cost of building this bridge reached CAD 6.4 billion or around IDR 79 trillion.
“It will not open until Ottawa treats the United States with the fairness and respect we deserve,” Trump wrote on social media.
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According to the project’s website, the bridge is funded by the Canadian government but will be publicly owned by Canada and Michigan. The organization developing this bridge, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, is wholly owned by the Canadian government.
The bridge, which spans the Detroit River, is expected to open to traffic after testing and official approval early this year. Construction began in 2018, but the project has been a point of contention between the two countries for more than a decade.
In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the US should own at least half of those assets. He said Canada would like to have both the Canadian and US sides of the bridge.
“The Canadian government expects me, as President of the United States, to allow them to take advantage of America!” Trump said.
“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,” he added.
Trump also blamed former US President Barack Obama for allowing construction of this bridge to begin without using US steel. The Moroun family, owners of the adjacent Ambassador Bridge that also connects Detroit to Canada, appealed to Trump during his first term to stop construction of the new bridge on the grounds that it violated their exclusive right to collect tolls.
In response, Trump and then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement saying the bridge was a ‘vital economic link’ between the two countries.
Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, rejected Trump’s threat to close the bridge. He said the bridge was good for employment opportunities in his area.
“This project has been an extraordinary example of bipartisan and international cooperation,” said Whitmer’s press secretary, Stacey LaRouche.
On Monday, Trump pointed to recent trade disputes between the two countries, saying that “the tariffs that Canada has imposed on us on our dairy products, for years, have been unacceptable.”
Trump also said that the trade deal signed between Canada and China last month would destroy Canada.
“The first thing China will do is stop all ice hockey games being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate the Stanley Cup,” Trump said.
However, Slotkin countered this by saying that the only reason Canada is on the verge of a trade deal with China is because Trump “has been kicking their ass for a year.”
Also watch the video “Trump Refuses to Apologize After Posting Racist Video of Obama Turning an Ape”
(moroc/haf)
date:2026-02-10 13:46:00