Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to Donald Trump Tuesday about a new bridge connecting Canada and the United States, assuring that the president’s complaints about the project will be “resolved.”
Trump said the United States should own “at least half” of the still under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge that links Ontario with Michigan.
Work on the $4.7-billion bridge — named after the late Canadian-born National Hockey League great and Detroit Red Wings star Gordie Howe — started in 2018 and it is due to open this year.
“I spoke to the president this morning. Regarding the bridge, the situation is going to be resolved,” Carney said in Ottawa without giving details.
“I explained that Canada, of course, paid for the construction of the bridge; that the ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada,” Carney said.
Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that Canada become the 51st U.S. state, threatened to block the opening of the bridge in a social media post late Monday.
Among other complaints, Trump alleged Canada used “virtually” no U.S. products to build it.
Carney said he told Trump “there’s Canadian steel, Canadian workers, but also U.S. steel, U.S. workers that were involved” in construction.
Carney did not comment on Trump’s allegation that as a consequence of Canada pursuing a trade deal with China, Beijing would “terminate” ice hockey.
