Officials scrambled behind the scenes as Trump took aim at bridge project: emails

Prime Minister Mark Carney breaks down details of the Gordie Howe bridge deal between Canada and the U.S.

OTTAWA — An American diplomat raised several questions about the Gordie Howe bridge in a phone call shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump’s February comments on the cross-border project ignited a political frenzy, newly released records reveal.

Hundreds of pages of emails, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, also provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how Canadian officials scrambled to react to Trump’s Feb. 9 social media post.

A ribbon cutting event for the Gordie Howe bridge, which connects Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, had been slated for June 12. The bridge is now scheduled to open July 27, after Canada agreed to make some adjustments to the deal related to the sharing of revenues.

In his February post, Trump insisted the United States would have to be compensated before he would allow the bridge to open. He falsely claimed the $6.4-billion structure was built with virtually no American content.

“Now, the Canadian Government expects me, as President of the United States, to PERMIT them to just ‘take advantage of America!’” Trump posted. “What does the United States of America get — Absolutely NOTHING!”

The New York Times later reported the post came after Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary, met with Matthew Moroun, whose family owns the competing Ambassador Bridge. The Gordie Howe bridge has long faced pushback from members of the Moroun family, who are major Republican donors.

A June 2012 agreement between Canada and Michigan paved the way for the establishment of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, a Canadian Crown corporation, to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the new international crossing.

As the operator of the bridge, the corporation was to set and collect all tolls.

The newly released records say that on Feb. 9 — just before Trump’s social media post — bridge authority chair Marie Campagna had a phone call with Baxter Hunt, the U.S. consul general in Toronto.

In an email to the bridge authority’s interim chief executive officer Chuck Andary and two senior officials at Canada’s Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Department, Campagna said Hunt had “raised several questions,” including, “When will we know toll rates?”

Campagna indicated that Hunt also reiterated points he had made in a previous letter.

Most of Campagna’s email and almost all of Andary’s reply were withheld from release.

Several hours later, after Trump’s social media statement, Andary sent another email to Campagna.

“Related, it appears that the President has just posted about us on his Truth Social account,” Andary wrote.

The records show the bridge authority quickly produced a point-by-point fact check of Trump’s post that took issue with several of his claims.

Andary informed the bridge authority’s board members of Trump’s post and later cited comments on the matter by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The bridge authority also closely tracked media coverage, noting that within 24 hours the U.S. president’s comments had prompted more than 100 news stories and broadcast clips.

The bridge authority did not respond to questions from The Canadian Press in time for publication.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined to elaborate on Hunt’s letter, saying it doesn’t comment on the details of private correspondence.

An embassy spokesperson said U.S. officials had been in regular communication with various Canadian officials to address questions about the bridge financing and revenue model.

With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press