Trump Is Trying To Use An International Bridge We Didn't Pay For As A Hostile Bargaining Chip Against Canada

It took years of legal wrangling, wheelin' and dealin' to get the brand-new Gordie Howe bridge built, and now that we're down to the third period with a wide open net, President Donald Trump wants to take his puck and go home. After years of the U.S. adamantly refusing to pay for a new bridge, it seem the U.S. is now mad that it doesn't own half of an international bridge we didn't pay for. 

Because this is Trump we're talking about, this story gets more and more ridiculous the longer you read, so strap in! Monday night, the president of the United States went on a very unpresidential rant on the social media network he owns about the Gordie Howe bridge, which will soon serve as a second stretch between Detroit, MI and Windsor, Ontario.

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Where was this energy when Trump was president the first time, and called the bridge a priority project and "a vital economic link between our two countries" back in 2017? Also, while it is nice Trump is so protective of hockey ("Heated Rivalry" is changing lives, people!) I really wonder where he got this "China is going to end ice hockey" thing. So many twisting pathways that will go unexplored in the President's mind.

Like so many of Trump's posts, there are so many wrong things here that it is hard to address them all. The feds do not own half of the bridge because, for over a decade, we have been adamant that we won't pay for it. That's thanks, in part, to another questionable U.S. billionaire, the late Matty Maroun. Maroun, who owned the Ambassador Bridge outright since the late 1970s, spent his twilight years doing everything he could to ensure that his 97-year-old international border crossing was the sole crossing from Canada into the U.S. while also ignoring basic maintenance and jacking up prices. 

Maroun was a pain on both sides of the river. He also bought a ton of dilapidated neighborhoods along the river and let them fall into ruin just so a new bridge crossing couldn't be build there, directly contributing to Detroit's massive blight problem. The Maroun family even called on Trump to put a stop to the construction of the new bridge, because what's a little international trade between oligarchs, er, friends? 

Maroun's miserly ways highlighted the need for a state-owned crossing at this vital trade artery. The privately owned Ambassador Bridge is the busiest in North America. It connects us to our second-largest trading partner and is responsible for $100 billion in trade annually (about $300 million a day) between our two countries. This connection is vital for the auto industry; nearly half of the goods passing through the bridge every day are automotive related. Some car parts can traverse the bridge up to seven times before a completed vehicle is constructed. Each time, that part incurs a new tariff under Trump's trade "plan."

Nonetheless, we didn't pay for the new bridge: Canada did, to the tune of $6.4 billion. Unionized American labor handled the American entrance side, however, which was built and is now owned by the state of Michigan. Our friends up north were even nice enough to name the bridge after a hero on both sides of the border, Detroit Red Wings legend and Canada's favorite son, Gordie Howe. Canada plans to recoup the staggering cost of building this shared piece of infrastructure via tolls.

Trump called the bridge a priority in 2017, but now he's blaming Obama for giving Canada a waiver around the Buy American act (which didn't happen, since the Buy American act only applied to U.S. federal agencies) and rages at Prime Minister Carney for bringing Chinese EVs into the country.

How could Trump block the bridge? It's unclear, but considering how effective he's been in the past, there's a strong possibility he'll forget he even made this post by the end of the week. Still, the New York Times has an idea (they really need to stop giving him ideas): 

One possible avenue would be for Mr. Trump to declare an emergency. Under the law, Customs and Border Protection can temporarily close a port of entry "when necessary to respond to a specific threat to human life or national interests." Mr. Trump has often invoked emergency statutes for events and circumstances that are largely considered routine to make use of the expanded authority that doing so grants him.

So far the ladies who run Michigan are not taking Trump too seriously. Stacey LaRouche, press secretary to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, told Automotive News the bridge is happening one way or another. 

"It's good for Michigan workers and it's good for Michigan's auto industry," said LaRouche, noting that the construction of the bridge was financed by Canada and that it was built by union construction workers from both sides of the border. "This project has been a tremendous example of bipartisan and international co-operation.

"It's going to open one way or another, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon cutting."

Michigan's U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin was also unimpressed with the President's late night bloviation, per Automotive News:

"Higher costs for Michigan businesses, less secure supply chains and ultimately, fewer jobs," the Michigan senator said on social media.

"With this threat, the president is punishing Michiganders for a trade war he started."

And you know who really isn't chill with this whole deal? The country of Canada. Candace Laing, President & CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce which technically owns the bridge, told the Detroit Free Press that blocking the Gordie Howe would be the trade equivalent of punching yourself in the face. 

"Whether this proves real or simply threatened to keep uncertainty high — blocking or barricading bridges is a self-defeating move," Laing said in an emailed statement.

The mayor of Windsor, Drew Dilkens, told the Times "This is crazy stuff." Dilkens also mentioned that Canada considered the Trump Administration's involvement with the bridge when deciding to delay the grand opening last year. It looks like they should have maybe cut that big red ribbon early after all. 

This isn't the first time our border with our Northern neighbors has been a lynchpin in international right-wing politics. If you remember, Canada's "Freedom Convoy" closed the bridge in 2022 while protesting COVID measures, causing an international incident that made automakers call on world leaders to get their car parts flowing again.