Trump jabs Gordie Howe event as Canada downplays profit sharing deal

Grant Schwab and Chad Livengood, The Detroit News on Jul 24, 2026

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WINDSOR, Ontario — President Donald Trump ripped Canadian officials Friday for disinviting American officials to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, while a top Canadian official downplayed Trump's claim that he had leveraged a better deal for the United States.

Trump commented on the exclusion of American officials at the event in a Friday social media post, which was shared online while the primarily Canadian-only event was taking place. He mentioned the new tariffs and touted his administration's newly negotiated deal to get 50% of any profits from the Gordie Howe bridge's toll revenues.

"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added: "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!"

But the U.S. is unlikely to receive much money from Trump's deal to open the new Detroit River crossing, said Gregor Robertson, Canada's housing and infrastructure minister.

Robertson told reporters that the bridge is unlikely to generate a significant amount of net revenue in its first few years of operation.

"In these initial years, there will be sharing of the net revenue. We don't anticipate that being very much, given all of the costs at the front end with this bridge in the initial years of operating," he said.

Robertson also said it will take 50 years of tolls for Canada to pay off its debts incurred in building the bridge, marking the first time a Canadian leader has acknowledged a timeframe for repayment.

Trump has delayed the opening of the new span connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, for months, demanding concessions in trade negotiations and a better profit-sharing arrangement for the $4.54 billion bridge, which Canada financed.

The United States and Canada reached a bridge deal earlier in July, which Trump endorsed and took credit for. The agreement stipulated that net revenues for the first 15 years of Gordie Howe Bridge operations would be split between the two countries, with the U.S. funds earmarked for economic development in the region.

Robertson made his comments following an event in Windsor to celebrate the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge. The event was for Canadian officials only after organizers scrapped a previously planned joint U.S.-Canada celebration in response to Trump's announcement of new 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods.

Trump is scheduled to visit the Detroit area on Monday, the same day the Gordie Howe Bridge is scheduled to open for traffic. It is unclear if he plans to visit the bridge.

Robertson's comments on Friday about minimal net revenues echoed a previous message from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shortly after the new deal was forged.

"The word ‘net’ does a lot of work in this. We are sharing after Canada is paid back,” Carney told CTV Calgary on July 12.

“So, we get the revenues. Then the servicing of the costs of the bridge and paying the debt of the bridge, and then what’s left over — there’s a split of that for 15 years, and the U.S. money is invested back in economic development in the region,” he said. "Which is going to help drive more traffic."

Carney also said that the initial years of the new $4.54 billion bridge from Michigan to Canada will be a period of building up traffic across the six-lane, 1.5-mile span. The new publicly owned bridge will compete with the privately owned Ambassador Bridge that has held a monopoly on truck traffic across the Detroit River since the Great Depression.

“There’s not going to be a lot of net to split,” the prime minister said. "So look, it's a good deal for Canada, and what's really good is getting the bridge done on time, on budget and to build out together."

Robertson, responding Friday to a question from The Detroit News about the canceled U.S.-Canada event, said Canadian officials determined it was "inappropriate to have a big joint celebration" as the two countries continue talks over Trump's newly announced tariffs.

"There's work to do between our officials, between the prime minister and president," the infrastructure minister said.

"I think we're confident that we're going to work through this. We always do between (the) U.S. and Canada. We have an incredibly close relationship and incredibly productive. And when we build together, we make it even more productive."

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Staff Writer Melissa Burke contributed.

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