; ;
The Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Ontario and Michigan is set to open, months after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to block it.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have suggested that Friday's scheduled bridge opening might be delayed, but Carney said on Wednesday he is confident the span will open "as soon as possible."
Trump was initially a booster of the project. A from Trump and Justin Trudeau, who was then prime minister, noted both leaders looked forward to the bridge's completion, calling it "a vital economic link."
But in February of this year, Trump lambasted Canada on the social media platform Truth Social for what he called its unfair treatment of the United States regarding the bridge.
In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed Canada owns the entire bridge, including the part of the bridge located on U.S. soil.
"With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset," he wrote.
The Canadian government signed an with the State of Michigan in 2012 to build the bridge.
Neither the United States nor Michigan paid for the bridge. Canada funded its entire construction at a cost of $6.4 billion, but Canada and Michigan ownership.
The agreement specified that a Canadian crossing authority — in this case the , a Canadian Crown corporation — would design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the bridge.
"The Michigan Parties are not obligated to pay any of the costs of the new International...
President Donald Trump has again repeated his long-debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged," this time while discussing trade policy at the White House and promising that ne...