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Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada
A Detroit billionaire met with Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary,
hours before President Trump said he would block the opening of a new
bridge connecting Detroit to Canada, officials said.
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Tyler PagerMatina Stevis-Gridneff
By Tyler Pager and Matina Stevis-Gridneff
Reporting from New York
Feb. 10, 2026

The billionaire owner of a bridge connecting Michigan with Canada met
Howard Lutnick, the U. S. Secretary of Commerce, on Monday hours before President Trump lambasted a competing span, in the latest flashpoint in the deteriorating relationship between the United States and Canada.
Matthew Moroun is a Detroit-based trucking magnate whose family has
operated the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, for decades. He met on Monday with Mr. Lutnick in Washington, according to two officials briefed on the meeting who requested anonymity to discuss a
private conversation.

After that meeting Mr. Lutnick spoke with Mr. Trump by phone about the
matter, the officials said.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Trump threatened to block the planned opening of a
new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, which would take away toll revenue from Mr. Moroun's crossing, if Canadian officials did not address a long
list of grievances.

The Moroun family has for decades mounted legal challenges to block or
delay the competing project, known as Gordie Howe International Bridge. One
of the challenges reached the Canadian Supreme Court, while the family has also lobbied extensively against it.

A spokesman for the Commerce Department declined to comment on the meeting with Mr. Lutnick. A representative for Mr. Moroun's company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The new bridge was fully paid for by Canada but is owned in part by
Michigan, and is expected to ease congestion in the busiest trade corridor between the United States and Canada.


Matthew Moroun in 2018. Credit... Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
Mr. Trump's latest salvo comes at a particularly fraught moment in the relationship between the two allies and top trading partners. Since Mr. Trump's election, he has menaced Canada, questioning its sovereignty and leveling tariffs on some of its key industries including steel, lumber and automobiles.
The two countries — along with Mexico — are expected to review their comprehensive, longstanding free-trade agreement this year. Those talks are expected to be strained given Mr. Trump's punishing use of tariffs.

In a rambling social media post on Monday evening, Mr. Trump threatened to stop the bridge from its scheduled opening later this year, saying that he wants to punish Canada for exploiting the United States and for reviving
its trade relationship with China, among other purported transgressions.
It was not immediately clear how Mr. Trump would block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which remains under construction.

The new crossing, which cost $4.7 billion, was paid for by Canada and is to
be operated jointly by Canada and Michigan under a public-private
arrangement.
The Moroun family had previously called on Mr. Trump to halt the
construction of bridge — which, once opened, would compete with the
Ambassador Bridge for the more than $300 million in daily cross-border
trade.
Mr. Trump on Monday suggested in a post that the United States might seek
to acquire "at least one half" of the new bridge and take a cut of the
tolls.
In his first term, Mr. Trump had promoted the Gordie Howe Bridge in a joint statement with Canadian officials as a symbol of the countries' deep ties
and as "a vital economic link between our two countries. "
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said he had a call with Mr. Trump on Tuesday and explained that Canada paid for the bridge, though it will share ownership with Michigan.
"This is a great example of cooperation between our countries, " Mr. Carney told reporters. "I look forward to it opening. "
Canada is Michigan's largest export market and Democrats assailed Mr.
Trump's bombast.
"The billionaires scored again, " Representative Debbie Dingell, Democrat
of Michigan, said in an interview. "Donald Trump won Michigan. Why is he
going to screw the working people who voted for him? "
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