Photo credit: Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Trump Threatens to Hold Up Opening of Gordie Howe Bridge
February 19, 2026
Crain’s Detroit Business
February 9, 2026
David Eggert
President Donald Trump threatened Monday to not let the Gordie Howe International Bridge open until the U.S. is “fully compensated” by Canada “for everything we have given them,” also floating the possibility of the U.S. owning at least half of the new crossing between Detroit and Windsor.
The bridge is supposed to open early this year after construction began in 2018. No launch date has been announced, but the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 30 issued a rule establishing the crossing as a port of entry for immigration purposes and as part of the port of Detroit for customs purposes, effective March 2.
The Gordie Howe crossing was built, in part, because manufacturers wanted an alternative to the Ambassador Bridge.
“The international bridge is the most consequential infrastructure project in the state and region of this generation,” said Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. “It will support economic growth and improve border security, and any effort to block this project would have tremendous consequences for the region, state, and country.”