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U.S. Democrats are probing the relationship between President Donald Trump and the owner of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ont., after the president threatened to block the opening of a competing crossing — the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
The Gordie Howe is a new six-lane, cable-stayed bridge, also connecting Windsor and Detroit, that’s expected to open in the coming months.
“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,” Trump wrote on social media earlier this month, “and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.”
The Canadian government paid for the entire $6.4-billion Gordie Howe bridge and plans to recoup the cost through tolls.
Here’s more on the new bridge and how it became embroiled in a controversy involving the U.S. president and Ambassador Bridge’s owner.
Who owns the Gordie Howe bridge?
It’s jointly owned by Canada and the state of Michigan, and was built by workers from both Canada and the U.S. using material from both countries.
It is named for Gordie Howe, a Canadian hockey legend who played 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Born in Saskatchewan, the legendary Howe died at age 88 in Ohio.
Why is the bridge so important?
It was borne out of talks between lawmakers on both sides of the border that began at the start of the new millennium out of concerns that existing crossings would not handle a projected increase in traffic.
Currently, there are two crossings between Windsor and Detroit:
- A tunnel, which is half-owned by the City of Windsor.
- The four-lane Ambassador Bridge, which was opened to the public in 1929 and is now privately owned by an American billionaire.
Of the two, the Ambassador is the only crossing right now that can accommodate large trucks.
Windsor-Detroit is the busiest commercial land crossing on the Canada-U.S. border, handling around 25 per cent of trade carried by truck between the two countries, according to Ottawa.
Who exactly owns the Ambassador Bridge?
Matthew Moroun, the son of Manuel (Matty) Moroun, purchased the bridge in 1979.
The elder Moroun had an acrimonious relationship with communities on both sides of the border. He was jailed, for example, by a Michigan judge for contempt of court in 2012 for refusing to complete court-ordered road work and other construction on the U.S. side of the bridge, and failing to quickly complete repairs to the bridge that were ordered by Transport Canada in 2015.
Moroun’s company had its own plans to build a new span between Windsor and Detroit, and purchased numerous properties in Windsor’s West Windsor and Sandwich Town neighbourhoods to that end. But it left them boarded up and in disrepair, resulting in legal battles with both the city and individual residents. The Canadian permit to build the bridge expired in 2022. The company said the terms of the Canadian and U.S. permits conflicted with one another.
Matty Moroun died in 2020.
Matthew extended an olive branch to the City of Windsor after convoy protesters blockaded the bridge in 2022.
However, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says recent revelations have again strained relations.
What does Ambassador’s owner have to do with the Gordie Howe?
The Moroun family has sought for years to block construction of a new crossing that would compete with them for toll revenue.
They’ve filed a total of 22 lawsuits aiming to slow or halt the Gordie Howe’s construction, according to a 2025 briefing note for the federal infrastructure minister that was obtained by CBC through a freedom-of-information request.
Governments in Canada and Michigan have so far successfully defended against all of them, though three remain outstanding, the document said.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which oversees the Gordie Howe bridge, also accused the Morouns of spreading misinformation about the bridge in 2018 television ads that lobbied Trump to revoke the Gordie Howe’s permit while falsely alleging the entire bridge would be built by Canadians.
Why are Democrats probing the Moroun family?
On Feb. 10, the New York Times reported that Trump’s social media broadside came just hours after Matthew Moroun met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington — and that Lutnick then spoke to the president by phone.
“It appears that you may have used your influence as a donor to President Donald Trump to jeopardize American commerce to protect your company’s bottom line,” California Rep. Robert Garcia and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib wrote to Moroun in a letter.
What’s going on now and what’s to come?
There is still no confirmed opening date for the Gordie Howe bridge.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) told CBC in August that it had begun to occupy its port of entry building and set up equipment.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBC on Feb 9, “General preparations are ongoing and consistent with established border security protocols at our ports of entry.”
