President Donald Trump has described November’s midterm elections as an inflection point for his second term, asserting that Republicans maintaining control of Congress is a political imperative.
But in a key battleground state, the president appears to have created a new issue that’s left Democrats wondering if Christmas has come 10 months early: a battle over a bridge that’s been in the works for almost a decade.
On Monday, Trump threatened Canada in a social media post, saying that he would “not allow” a bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario to open until the U.S. is “fully compensated for everything we have given them, and, also importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.”
The brass knuckles approach from the president, which comes amid an escalating trade war with Canada and lingering pique over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks in Davos last month, is hardly new. He’s threatened to hold other major projects hostage — including funding for a major bridge and tunnel project in New York, which he said he’d release in exchange for naming New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport after him.
But the new threat to this nearly-completed bridge, if Trump were to follow through, could hurt the very Rust Belt voters he needs to win if Republicans hope to hold control of Congress after November’s elections.
Ray LaHood, a former GOP congressmember from Illinois who served as Transportation secretary during the Barack Obama administration, said there would be a “huge impact” on Michiganders and the entire region if Trump were to follow through on his threats.
“The people that will be hurt are the working people,” LaHood said in an interview. “There's a lot of commerce with the automobile industry, back and forth between Canada and the U.S.”
Michigan Democrats reacted to Trump’s post with lightning speed. Sen. Elissa Slotkin wrote in a post on X that shutting down the bridge “will have serious repercussions. Higher costs for Michigan businesses, less secure supply chains, and ultimately, fewer jobs.”
The three Democrats in the state vying to be the party’s U.S. Senate nominee ripped Mike Rogers, who will be the Republican candidate this fall, for downplaying economic concerns about delaying the bridge’s opening and stating that Trump was right to try to use the project as leverage in trade negotiations.
“His top priority is rubber-stamping Donald Trump’s agenda, rather than doing what’s best for Michigan,” said Rep. Haley Stevens in a statement from her Senate campaign.
And a day later, the Democratic candidates sounded off again, seizing on a New York Times report that the president issued his bridge threat just hours after the billionaire owner of another bridge between the Detroit area and Canada met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The owners of that privately-owned span, called the Ambassador Bridge, have long tried to block or delay the construction of a competing infrastructure project.
“This is the most ridiculous grift,” said Abdul El-Sayed, one of the Democratic Senate hopefuls who spoke to reporters following a debate in Washington on Wednesday.
Another candidate, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, also focused on Lutnick’s reported meeting with Matthew Moroun, whose family owns the four-lane Ambassador Bridge that for years has been plagued by backups and delays.
“We now have the president of the United States attacking a publicly-owned bridge in support of a privately-owned bridge,” McMorrow said after Wednesday’s debate. “It would be cartoonish, if it wasn't so damaging. I mean, it is just corruption out in the open, and I think that is why Michiganders are so pissed off.”
One Democratic consultant with Michigan connections, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the appearance that Trump’s tweet came at the behest of a billionaire family could be an especially potent feature of Democratic candidates’ messaging this fall.
“It hits the two biggest advantageous buckets for us — corruption and [Republicans] looking out for billionaires,” the consultant said.
Representatives for the Moroun family were not available for comment.
To be sure, Trump has not always followed through on his various online threats and policy pronouncements. But the president’s brazen threat to shut down a bridge is reminiscent of how former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie engineered traffic problems on the George Washington Bridge in 2013 to punish a local mayor — the difference being Christie’s efforts were done in private, exploding into a major scandal once brought to light.
Trump’s threats toward Canada now are just the latest provocative act in a news cycle replete with others.
But with Democrats already enjoying a 6-point edge on the generic ballot ahead of the midterms and Trump’s approval rating mired at 39 percent, some Republicans have begun to distance themselves from the threat, which could galvanize swing voters against them.
A spokesperson for GOP gubernatorial candidate John James’ campaign emphasized in a statement that James “was an early supporter of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, hosting events at his business to rally support for jobs and growth in Michigan.”
During his first term, Trump also issued a statement of support for the bridge project, which was launched following the 2012 Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement. That agreement guaranteed the bridge’s joint, binational ownership despite Canada paying all upfront costs associated with construction. This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump’s false claims that Canada owns the entire bridge and that it was built without U.S. consent.
The Republican governor who finalized the joint project to build the bridge, Rick Snyder, responded in an Op-Ed for The Detroit News on Tuesday and corrected the president on those points, explaining that Canada and the state of Michigan are 50/50 owners of the bridge and that Canada alone funded its construction. That’s why, Snyder explained, both sides agreed to waive Buy America provisions during the construction and why Canada will be compensated with interest from toll revenue once the bridge opens.
Snyder also singled out the Moroun family as the sole beneficiaries of any attempt to shut down the new bridge, explaining that they have spent tens of billions of dollars opposing the project over the years.
“President Trump, I would encourage you to challenge your advisers and the sources for your post to correct the information they have provided,” Snyder wrote. “The GHIB is a great deal for America that I hope you will be proud of. We have some issues with Canada that should be negotiated. But picking this bridge as the leverage point doesn’t seem to make the most sense given your other tools. The bridge stoppage approach would primarily harm Americans.”
Carney, the prime minister, said that he spoke by phone with Trump on Tuesday to clear up any confusion about the bridge project, which he said would be beneficial to commerce and tourism for both countries.
Asked for a response to the pushback from Snyder and others, a White House official did not address the possibility of impacts on Michigan residents and businesses, going as far as to suggest the bridge owned by the Morouns was sufficient without the opening of a second bridge.
“The Ambassador Bridge, which is privately owned by an American family-run business, already connects the U.S. and Canada just miles away from the Gordie Howe Bridge,” the official said. “It is unacceptable for the President that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe Bridge and owns land on both sides of this bridge. The value of this bridge is tied to the fact that it connects to America and our $30 trillion economy, not to Canada’s $2.5 trillion economy that’s reliant on trade with America. The President believes that the United States should own at least half of the bridge, have shared authority over what passes across it, and participate in the economic benefits generated by its use. All international infrastructure projects require a presidential permit, and the President is within his absolute right to amend it.”
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