Trump says Gordie Howe bridge won't open without Canadian concessions

[demmiblue]

President Donald Trump says he will not allow the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor to open unless Canada makes significant concessions to the U.S.

Trump said in a Feb. 9 post on Truth Social that the U.S. will open negotiations with Canada, which has footed the entire bill for the $5.7-billion bridge construction project, but believes the U.S. should probably take ownership of at least half of it.

The bridge is expected to open early this year, after construction began in 2020.

"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 U.S. with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," Trump wrote.

"With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/09/trump-says-gordie-howe-bridge-wont-open-without-canadian-concessions/88597735007/

[yellow dahlia]

1. Please make it stop!

This Frankenstein's monster who is squatting in the WH is a stain on this country, and everything he gets near.

[LisaM]

2. Not only that...

China is going to eliminate hockey and cancel the Stanley Cup.

[LessAspin]

3. Detroit v Everybody

Sort of feels like another issue that can be used against John James, Mike Rogers, Tom Barrett, and every GOP candidate in Michigan..

Link to tweet

Add it to the list of issues to hang on these clowns that blindly follow Trump 🤡

[LessAspin]

10. 🇨🇳 China v Canada 🇨🇦

Last edited Mon Feb 9, 2026, 11:38 PM - Edit history (2)

Trump is just looking out for Canada and the Stanley Cup 🍶

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LessAspin]

13. MAGA Matty Moroun v Michigan

Last edited Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun trying to screw over Michigan one more time

Suspected this but I thought maybe Lutnick and Trump were too busy trying to cover up their Epstein Connections..

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[msongs]

4. which side needs the bridge the most? canada just say NO and post an eff trump sign on your end nt

[gay texan]

5. Really freaking smart orange dipshit

Insult a Canadian hero...

[Cirsium]

6. Tragic

My friends and I at age 12 actually rode across the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor on our bikes. No hassles, no worries.

Open borders! Kids pouring across on bikes!

[Wuddles440]

7. FUCK this POS!!!

[The Madcap]

8. Canada should pt a 200 ft tall Baby Trump

On the bridge on their side of the border.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. We can wait until 2029.

Although it’d be a shame if US automakers couldn’t get essential Canadian made parts for the next few years…

[gfarber]

11. Gordie Howe Bridge

There once was a bridge newly done,
From Windsor to Michigan run.
But Trump slammed the gate,
Cried “We’ll block it—just wait!”
Till trade wondered what he’d begun.

The Chamber up north made a fuss,
Said, “Blocking yourself’s disastrous.
Is it real? Is it bluff?
Either way it’s rough stuff—
Self-defeat dressed up as a plus.”

Canada paid for the span,
A joint little U.S.–Can plan.
So it’s murky at best
How Trump could arrest
A bridge neither owned nor quite ran.

He might cry an “emergency” spell,
That trick he’s performed rather well.
If routine feels dire,
He’ll still pull the wire—
Expanded authority to sell.

Nearby stands Ambassador Bridge,
A toll-collecting old ridge.
Owned by Moroun’s clan,
They’d rather it stand
Without fresh new steel on the edge.

Trump mused, with a toll-boothy grin,
“We should get at least half—chip in.”
Praise once flowed like wine:
“A vital link!”—back in time,
Before coherence started to thin.

Bad Bunny one day—what a ride—
Canadian bridges next tide.
From tariffs to tunes,
To geopolitical prunes,
Mentally incontinent pride.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. MaddowBlog-Trump sends Canada a silly warning: China would 'eliminate' hockey and the Stanley Cup

Sounding like a man who’s worried about his ex dating someone new, the president sent Ottawa a message that reeks of desperation.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-sends-canada-a-silly-warning-china-would-eliminate-hockey-and-the-stanley-cup

About a decade ago, as Barack Obama started wrapping up his final year as president, the Democrat traveled to Canada to deliver remarks to the House of Commons in Ottawa. To understate matters, Obama received an extraordinarily warm welcome.

In fact, an NBC News report from the time noted that he was greeted with “rapturous” applause and an extended standing ovation, which included Canadian lawmakers chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!” for quite a while.....

A decade later, Donald Trump continues to find new ways to shred that partnership. The New York Times reported:

President Trump threatened on Monday to block the opening of a new bridge between the United States and Canada if Canadian officials did not address a long and growing list of grievances, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Amid a trade war and a deepening rift between the United States and its northern neighbor, Mr. Trump said that he would ‘not allow’ the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open early this year for traffic between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, ‘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.’

To be sure, there are a variety of unanswered questions. What does Trump expect to get from this tantrum? How exactly would he try block the opening of the bridge? Was this a sincere announcement tied to actual White House policy, or was it just some random nonsense that the Republican published to his social media platform that he had no intention of acting on?....

As is always the case, context is everything. After a year in which Trump threatened, insulted, penalized and even tried to acquire our neighbor to the north, Canada did what many traditional U.S. allies started doing in 2024: They began looking for new friends.

The more the White House took steps to try to bully Ottawa into submission, the more the Republican administration pushed Canada into China’s waiting arms.

Sounding very much like a man who’s enraged by the idea of his ex dating someone new, Trump apparently thought it would be a good idea to focus on one of Canada’s cultural touchstones, warning Canadians that if they agreed to stronger economic ties to China, the Asian giant would ban hockey.

It’s a ridiculous claim that reeks of desperation. If the American president wants to sound more persuasive and less pitiful, he’ll need fewer arguments that illicit derisive laughter.