‘Open the damn bridge’: U.S. Senate hopeful says Trump is keeping Gordie Howe bridge closed to help donor

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is shown from Windsor on June 4, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

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A would-be U.S. Senator has released a campaign-style video telling U.S. President Trump to “open the damn bridge” that spans the Detroit River between her state and Windsor, Ont.

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Mallory McMorrow has been a senator in the state senate of Michigan since 2019, and the body’s majority whip since 2023. She is currently a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2026 election in her state. The Democratic incumbent, Gary Peters, has said he won’t be seeking a third term.

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In a post on social media this week, McMorrow can be seen in Detroit with the Gordie Howe Bridge in the background.

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“The Gordie Howe Bridge is finished,” she says. “But Donald Trump won’t open it, because the billionaire family that owns the other bridge gave him a million bucks.”

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The other bridge is the Ambassador Bridge, opened in 1929 and now owned and operated by the Moroun family.

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McMorrow continues with “one message for the president: Open this damn bridge. And you’d better believe I approve this message.”

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In an interview on CNN the same day she explained: “This is a symbol, right in the heart of Michigan, of the corruption of the Trump administration. This is a bridge that has been built for years; more than two decades have gone into bringing this bridge to life.”

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She continued: “This is a crossing that is responsible for 25 per cent of North American trade. The current crossing is owned by one family.”

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She pointed out that “Canada paid for the entire thing” and that “the bridge is finished,” adding: “The Moroun family that opens the other bridge made a million-dollar donation to Trump’s super PAC, they got a meeting with (U.S. Commerce Secretary) Howard Lutnick, and then all of a sudden they finally found a guy to do their bidding in president Trump, who is now railing against this bridge.”

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The Gordie Howe International Bridge is shown from Windsor on Feb. 10, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

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After numerous delays and a vague, early-2026 date for its opening, it was recently announced that the new bridge would open on June 12.

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“It’s positive news. Obviously the bridge will be open at the end of the week,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said on June 9, calling it “a symbol but also a fact of co-operations between our countries.”

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However, two days later he told reporters: “At the request of the United States we agreed to delay the opening and take the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues.”

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He added: “There’s not great drama here,” saying the delay “of a few weeks is time well spent.”

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When asked what the issues were, he said they were “a series of technical aspects” without going into more detail.

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A lone commercial truck is shown on the Ambassador Bridge on April 7, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

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The bridge’s official website does not give an opening date, and its latest news release, dated June 11, is a statement by Chuck Andary, the bridge’s interim CEO and Chief Legal Officer, that reads in part: “Canada and the United States have agreed to delay the opening of the bridge, taking the necessary time to resolve any outstanding issues. We appreciate the efforts of workers on both sides of the border to get the bridge to its current state of readiness.”