Carney speaks to Trump after president erupts over Gordie Howe Bridge

[Spazito]

PM explained to Trump that Canada paid for Windsor-Detroit crossing and that Michigan owns part of it

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to his U.S. counterpart early Tuesday morning about the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which Donald Trump has threatened to block, explaining to him that Canadians paid for the bridge in full and that the Americans already have an ownership stake.

Carney said he told Trump that the federal government paid some $4 billion to build the Windsor-Detroit bridge and that it was built with Canadian and U.S. workers and steel from both countries, despite the president's bogus claims that there was "virtually no U.S. content" used during construction.

While Trump said the federal government owns "both the Canada and the United States side," the bridge is in fact publicly owned by both Canada and Michigan. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which will be responsible for operating the bridge, is a Canadian Crown corporation.

"This is a great example of co-operation between our countries. I look forward to its opening," Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday morning. "What is particularly important, of course, is the commerce and the tourism and the voyages of Canadians and Americans that will go across that bridge."

snip

"It was a positive conversation," Carney said, adding he told Trump that Canada's women's hockey team will beat the Americans in their Olympic matchup today. "It's a big game today and we're going to win."

a little more...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-carney-gordie-howe-bridge-9.7082658

I lol'd at Carney's poke re the hockey game later today although teasing a toddler like trump is risky.

[Dave Bowman]

1. The vomit inducing cretin keeps making a fool of himself. Sad.

[CrispyQ]

2. I don't think Trump watches any sports unless it's from a box office for PR, but he'd never watch women's teams compete!

Good for Carney setting the record straight on the bridge, but the cult will never hear it.

[ChicagoTeamster]

3. Trump wants to make money off of the bridge. The company owning the Ambassador US-Canada bridge probably bribed him.

There's tolls on all of the US-Canada bridges and one tunnel. He probably wants to bring in a company he will have some control over to get some of the toll money from the bridge. He'll rewrite a management agreement to include his company and all other parties have to agree or no license.

[Spazito]

4. He might try...

but, then again, one needs only to look at the numerous court cases he has already lost to know the odds for this kind of action.

[ChicagoTeamster]

5. He probably will try. He's gambling with the house's money and will never play his debts.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. MaddowBlog-Trump sends Canada a silly warning: China would 'eliminate' hockey and the Stanley Cup

Sounding like a man who’s worried about his ex dating someone new, the president sent Ottawa a message that reeks of desperation.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-sends-canada-a-silly-warning-china-would-eliminate-hockey-and-the-stanley-cup

About a decade ago, as Barack Obama started wrapping up his final year as president, the Democrat traveled to Canada to deliver remarks to the House of Commons in Ottawa. To understate matters, Obama received an extraordinarily warm welcome.

In fact, an NBC News report from the time noted that he was greeted with “rapturous” applause and an extended standing ovation, which included Canadian lawmakers chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!” for quite a while.....

A decade later, Donald Trump continues to find new ways to shred that partnership. The New York Times reported:

President Trump threatened on Monday to block the opening of a new bridge between the United States and Canada if Canadian officials did not address a long and growing list of grievances, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Amid a trade war and a deepening rift between the United States and its northern neighbor, Mr. Trump said that he would ‘not allow’ the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open early this year for traffic between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, ‘until the United States 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.’

To be sure, there are a variety of unanswered questions. What does Trump expect to get from this tantrum? How exactly would he try block the opening of the bridge? Was this a sincere announcement tied to actual White House policy, or was it just some random nonsense that the Republican published to his social media platform that he had no intention of acting on?....

As is always the case, context is everything. After a year in which Trump threatened, insulted, penalized and even tried to acquire our neighbor to the north, Canada did what many traditional U.S. allies started doing in 2024: They began looking for new friends.

The more the White House took steps to try to bully Ottawa into submission, the more the Republican administration pushed Canada into China’s waiting arms.

Sounding very much like a man who’s enraged by the idea of his ex dating someone new, Trump apparently thought it would be a good idea to focus on one of Canada’s cultural touchstones, warning Canadians that if they agreed to stronger economic ties to China, the Asian giant would ban hockey.

It’s a ridiculous claim that reeks of desperation. If the American president wants to sound more persuasive and less pitiful, he’ll need fewer arguments that illicit derisive laughter.

[Spazito]

7. I laughed out loud when I read his latest 'missive'....

he just gets more ridiculous with every post he or one of his sycophants puts on his pathetic social media platform.

Carney really, really, really gets under his very thin skin, lol.

[Justice matters.]

8. What a criminal idiot...

Like China will want to stop making and selling hockey gear to Canadian hockey players...

Time to send him to his golden nursing-home room in a strait jacket and no phones!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. MaddowBlog-Democrats launch investigation into Trump's 'Bridgegate' controversy

Even in a White House known for corruption, the president’s objections to the Gordie Howe International Bridge appear quite brazen.

If you’re late to the controversy surrounding Trump and the Gordie Howe International Bridge (as I was), it’s a doozy:
- billionaire donor wants a lucrative monopoly
- he calls Lutnick
- Lutnick calls Trump
- Trump rejects his own position, does what the billionaire wants
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-17T21:59:01.375Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/democrats-launch-investigation-into-trumps-bridgegate-controversy

There was no obvious reason for Trump to make such a declaration — that is, until The New York Times reported on what happened just hours beforehand:

The billionaire owner of a bridge connecting Michigan with Canada met Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, on Monday hours before President Trump lambasted a competing span, in the latest flashpoint in the deteriorating relationship between the United States and Canada.

Matthew Moroun is a Detroit-based trucking magnate whose family has operated the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, for decades. He met on Monday with Mr. Lutnick in Washington, according to two officials briefed on the meeting who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

According to the Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, after Lutnick spoke to the well-connected billionaire donor, the commerce secretary spoke with Trump by phone. Shortly afterward, Trump issued his odd threat.

Even in a White House known for corruption, this appeared quite brazen.

In a piece for MS NOW published over the weekend, former Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan explained, “The busiest northern border crossing in the United States is the one between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. Billions of dollars of manufacturing and agricultural goods cross this border every day, as well as essential workers and professionals. This corridor is economically vital for the United States and crucially important to our national security.”

As things stand, Stabenow added, a single, privately owned toll bridge “dominates this critical trade corridor.” That bridge — you guessed it — is owned by the Moroun family, which wants to maintain its near-monopoly.....

Trump’s seemingly corrupt hysterics notwithstanding, there’s no reason for U.S. officials to oppose this project. Canada footed the bill for its construction, and it will collect toll revenue until it recoups its costs. At that point, the bridge will be jointly owned by both countries.

Yes, Trump and his White House team have come up with some creative new objections to the project they used to support, though as The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait explained, “Trump’s stated demands to open the bridge are a mixture of fantasy and contrived grievance.”

The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal went so far as to label the mess Trump’s “Bridgegate,” harking back to the scandal that did lasting harm to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

[Spazito]

10. Thanks for this...

Steve Benen is great, he is a wonderful asset for Rachel's show. As for trump, no shocker there, if there is a billionaire donor involved he's right there to do the donor's bidding.