WINDSOR, ONTARIO / DETROIT, MICHIGAN — It was meant to be a marvel of modern infrastructure. A steel-and-concrete bridge not just between two cities, but between two nations. The Gordie Howe International Bridge—a $4.79 billion megaproject spanning the Detroit River—was envisioned as a game-changer for North American trade. Today, it stands half-finished, half-forgotten, and increasingly at risk of becoming one of the most expensive symbols of geopolitical miscalculation in modern Canadian history.

As the political climate across the U.S.-Canada border continues to shift—and as former President Donald Trump reasserts himself as a dominant force in American politics—experts and insiders alike are warning: the bridge may never fulfill its promise.

The Vision That Inspired the Gordie Howe Bridge

The idea behind the Gordie Howe International Bridge was bold. For years, the Ambassador Bridge—opened in 1929—remained the sole commercial crossing between Windsor and Detroit, handling more than 25% of all merchandise trade between Canada and the U.S. Yet with growing congestion, aging infrastructure, and rising cross-border trade, Canadian policymakers sought a second artery.

Named after Canadian-born hockey legend Gordie Howe, the bridge was touted as a flagship for the future: six lanes, state-of-the-art customs facilities, direct freeway-to-freeway connections, and the ability to move billions in goods every day. Ottawa even agreed to fund the entire construction, including American customs infrastructure—an unprecedented move justified by the bridge’s expected returns.

But what no engineer or economist could have predicted was that the bridge’s fate would be decided not by traffic volume or trade logistics—but by politics.

Trump, Protectionism, and the Collapse of Bilateral Trust

When Donald Trump first took office in 2017, his disdain for multilateral agreements, his America First doctrine, and his erratic tariff policies sent shockwaves across North America. His administration slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, targeted auto imports, and often used trade as a weapon rather than a tool of diplomacy.

Although Canada weathered the storm through strategic negotiation and measured resistance, the seeds of distrust were sown. And now, with Trump dominating the Republican primaries and polling competitively against President Joe Biden, those seeds are sprouting into a full-blown crisis of confidence.

“The Gordie Howe Bridge was born under the assumption of stable, rules-based trade,” says Dr. Stephen Rosenfield, an international trade scholar at the University of Ottawa. “But what we’re seeing is a breakdown of that assumption. If Trump returns, we may be looking at a scenario where this bridge becomes politically and economically irrelevant.”

The Chilling Economic Forecast: A Bridge Without a Purpose

Already behind schedule and billions over its initial budget, the bridge is now plagued by existential doubt. Delays due to pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and labor shortages have pushed the projected completion date to 2026. But even then, key questions remain unanswered:

• Will a new U.S. administration allow a free flow of trade through the corridor?

• Will retaliatory tariffs or “Buy American” policies discourage cross-border manufacturing?

• Could Trump or his allies restrict trucking permits, tighten customs protocols, or use the bridge as leverage in a future bilateral dispute?

“People assume that if the structure is complete, the mission is accomplished,” says former Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson. “But without mutual political will, it’s just infrastructure without function. A bridge without trust on both ends is just dead steel.”

Who Truly Owns the Future of the Border?

One of the most overlooked risks facing the bridge lies in ownership and control. Though Canada financed the project, the American side must agree to operate and staff the U.S. Port of Entry. There is no binding treaty that guarantees future cooperation under a hostile White House. And with growing influence from U.S. domestic trucking lobbies and nationalist think tanks, there’s increasing pressure to deprioritize Canadian infrastructure that doesn’t directly serve American interests.

Meanwhile, conservative media figures—many of them Trump loyalists—have already begun attacking the Gordie Howe project as an “unnecessary gift” to Canada, citing environmental concerns, national security risks, and economic redundancy given the existence of the Ambassador Bridge.

In fact, the Moroun family, private owners of the Ambassador Bridge, have long opposed the public-funded competition posed by the Gordie Howe. And with close ties to Trump-aligned circles, they may now find renewed leverage in Washington to hinder the new bridge’s effectiveness once it opens.

A Monument to Political Miscalculation?

What happens when a nation invests billions into an infrastructure project built on the assumption of cooperation—only to watch the geopolitical terrain shift beneath it?

The Gordie Howe Bridge is poised to become the most expensive case study in modern North American diplomacy gone awry. A towering symbol of optimism in an era that no longer tolerates it. For many Canadians, the bridge was a bet on the enduring strength of the Canada-U.S. alliance. But Trump’s legacy—and potential return—has already poisoned the waters it spans.

The question now is not whether the bridge will be completed—but whether it will ever be fully used.

The Final Cost: Not Just Financial, But Strategic

Should Trump or a like-minded successor reclaim the White House, the future of U.S.-Canada trade cooperation may be cast into long-term doubt. And with it, Canada could find itself in possession of a gleaming, multi-billion-dollar bridge that leads not to opportunity—but to obstruction.

“This isn’t just a waste of money,” says Dr. Mendelson. “It’s a national embarrassment in the making. A monument to the idea that we can still build things bigger than politics—even as politics bulldozes everything in its path.”

If that future unfolds, the Gordie Howe International Bridge may go down in history not as a proud link between neighbors, but as a silent, steel-clad ruin of broken promises and failed diplomacy—stretching across a border that no longer opens its arms.