Trump Says U.S. Now Claims Half of Gordie Howe Bridge Profits

Trump says Canada barred the U.S. from the Gordie Howe Bridge opening and declares the original crossing deal void, with Washington now taking 50% of the profit.

First Published: July 24, 2026, 8:51 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump said Canada barred the United States from the opening ceremony of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and declared the original crossing agreement void.

The president said the U.S. now claims 50% of the profit from the bridge, a span that links Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit River. He tied the dispute to what he called substantial tariffs that Canada pays to the United States.

“We changed the terms of the Deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the Profit,” Trump said in the post, calling the earlier arrangement one that was “terribly negotiated by a previous Administration.”

The claim, framed as a unilateral revision of a binational infrastructure pact, raises immediate questions about who controls a crossing that carries a major share of trade between the two countries.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is fine, considering they are paying substantial TARIFFS to the United States, but the original Deal on the Bridge, which was terribly negotiated by a previous Administration, no longer stands. We changed the terms of the Deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the Profit. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Trump” on July 24, 2026 at 12:40 PM ET.

This is one message released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces about 14 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 7 of his 428 posts over the last 30 days focused on tariffs, according to Zenger analysis.

The stakes reach beyond a ribbon-cutting. Ontario financed the crossing and the connecting infrastructure under the original terms, and any change to profit-sharing would shift revenue and control toward Washington. Canadian drivers, trucking firms, and cross-border manufacturers depend on the corridor. A contested ownership claim injects uncertainty into a route built to ease that traffic.

The Gordie Howe crossing sits at one of the busiest commercial borders in North America, and the Detroit-Windsor corridor handles a large volume of the goods that move between the two economies each day. A dispute over the span touches automakers, freight carriers, and the workers on both sides of the river who move parts and finished vehicles.

For the average U.S. reader, a fight over the bridge could translate into tolls, shipping costs, and the price of goods that cross the border. Delays or new fees at a key crossing ripple through supply chains. The dispute also signals how far the administration is willing to press trade leverage against a close ally.

This has happened before in the sense that Trump has repeatedly reopened settled trade and infrastructure arrangements with Canada, from earlier tariff threats to renegotiated commercial terms. A public claim to half the profit of a jointly planned border crossing, however, marks an unusual escalation over a specific piece of shared infrastructure.

The next step rests with the Canadian government and the binational authority that oversees the crossing, which have not publicly confirmed Trump’s account of a revised deal. A date for any formal response or decision has not been announced.

Border crossings between Detroit and Windsor have sparked conflict before. The nearby Ambassador Bridge, opened in 1929 as the longest suspension span in the world at the time, remained privately held for decades and became the center of a long fight over a competing public crossing. That rivalry helped spur the push for the Gordie Howe project. The private owner spent years and large sums opposing the new bridge before it moved ahead.