{"id":101767,"date":"2026-06-24T14:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/101767\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T14:54:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:54:45","slug":"michigan-senate-candidate-says-trump-blocking-canada-us-bridge-to-help-donor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/101767\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Senate candidate says Trump blocking Canada-US bridge to help donor"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The delayed opening<\/a> of a bridge connecting Michigan and Canada is spilling into one of the country\u2019s most closely watched Senate races, as Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow launches the first major effort to turn the controversy into a political liability for President Donald Trump and Republicans.<\/p>\n

McMorrow\u2019s new ad, shared first with The Associated Press, accuses Trump of blocking the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and suggests he is doing so to benefit a major political donor, building on an anti-corruption message she has sought to make central to her campaign.<\/p>\n

The bridge, which spans the Detroit River and connects the Motor City with Windsor, Ontario, was slated for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 12. It was abruptly postponed after officials<\/a> said the U.S. and Canada were still working to resolve \u201coutstanding issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dispute gives Democrats a rare opportunity to tie Trump directly to a project with visible economic consequences in a battleground state. For McMorrow, who is trying to gain ground in a three-person primary, it also offers a chance to distinguish herself as the first Democratic candidate to make the controversy a campaign issue. She\u2019s running against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed. <\/p>\n

The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024. Rogers has also used the bridge in political messaging, saying that if he\u2019s sent to Washington he\u2019ll make sure the bridge is opened.<\/p>\n

The ad claims Trump is blocking the bridge for billionaire donor<\/p>\n

Standing in front of the bridge, McMorrow claims in the ad that it\u2019s ready to open but remains closed because \u201cDonald Trump won\u2019t open it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Mallory McMorrow and I have one message for the president: open this damn bridge,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McMorrow argues that Trump is blocking the bridge because \u201cthe billionaire family that owns the other bridge gave him a million bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

That claim references the Moroun family, owners of the privately held Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Federal campaign finance records show Matthew Moroun donated $1 million to Trump\u2019s super PAC earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In February, Trump demanded in a social media post that Canada hand over at least half ownership of the bridge to the U.S. government and accept other unspecified demands, part of his broader clashes with Canada<\/a> over trade. <\/p>\n

Canada financed the bridge\u2019s construction. The project was negotiated by Rick Snyder, the former Republican governor of Michigan, and work has been underway since 2018 and cost close to $4.4 billion.<\/p>\n

Named after the late Canadian hockey great Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings, the bridge is expected to be another vital economic artery between Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n

McMorrow is taking big swings. She may need to<\/p>\n

McMorrow is hoping to break through in a race that many in the state see increasingly as a two-candidate contest. <\/p>\n

In an interview with AP, McMorrow acknowledged that from the start of the race she\u2019s been a \u201cdark horse\u201d candidate. A state senator known for a viral speech<\/a> in 2022, she faces a congresswoman with large resources in Stevens. El-Sayed, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, has carved out the progressive lane with Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 backing.<\/p>\n

The Gordie Howe digital ad is the second ad in a series, with an initial buy of over $400,000 on TV and digital platforms in the Detroit market. The first ad was a 30-second TV spot released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now in this primary, my two opponents are trying to present a false binary choice,\u201d McMorrow said.<\/p>\n

Outside groups have also begun pouring money into the race. A PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has spent nearly $8 million this month boosting Stevens, while Yes Michigan Action Committee, a super PAC supporting McMorrow, has reserved nearly $6 million in advertising, according to AdImpact.<\/p>\n

Last week, El-Sayed became the first Democratic candidate in the race to directly spend for an ad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have six weeks. I mean, anything can happen,\u201d said McMorrow. \u201cThere are so many people who are just starting to tune into this race.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The delayed opening of a bridge connecting Michigan and Canada is spilling into one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1801,36827,13944,36829,17,591,10560,162,133,18317,592,6677,36826,24271,2737,36830,36831,113,31973,36828,3942,594,5996],"class_list":["post-101767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-2026-elections","tag-abdul-el-sayed","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-campaign-finance","tag-canada","tag-canada-government","tag-detroit","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-elissa-slotkin","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-matthew-moroun","tag-mi-state-wire","tag-michigan","tag-mike-rogers","tag-political-action-committees","tag-politics","tag-rick-snyder","tag-senate-elections","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states-government","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}