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Hoekstra denies US$1 million Moroun family donation behind Gordie Howe Bridge delay
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has denied that a donation from the billionaire family that owns the Ambassador Bridge is responsible for the delay in opening the new Gordie Howe Bridge.
Global News asked Hoekstra whether a million-dollar campaign donation to MAGA Inc. from Matthew Moroun, the head of the family that has owned the bridge since the 1970s, was linked to the hold-up.
“Absolutely not,” the outlet reports Hoekstra to have said. “The bridge was not open when it was announced a couple of weeks ago by mutual agreement of the Canadian government and the U.S. government.”
He added: “It has nothing to do with the Morouns.”
The Moroun family has opposed the Gordie Howe Bridge project, which could be seen as a threat to their bottom line, for years. The Department of Homeland Security says three million commercial vehicles crossed the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Michigan, in 2025. But that figure is expected to drop to about 1.6 million vehicles after the Gordie Howe Bridge opens.
The Ambassador Bridge charges commercial trucks US$15 to $20 per axle to cross each way (a typical tractor-trailer can have five axles), according to The Windsor Star.
Hoekstra went on to tell Global News that “the Morouns operate a significant business in the United States, and in the United States, companies involved in those kinds of businesses donate to all kinds of campaigns.”
He added: “I know that they donate to Republicans and Democrats.”
Campaign finance reports show that Matthew Moroun made the US$1 million donation to Donald Trump’s super PAC on January 16. In February, Trump pledged to block the Gordie Howe Bridge from opening “until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given” Canada.
Meanwhile, Andrew MacDougall, who was director of communications for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement was signed, told National Post that Moroun’s “monopoly” on the busy trade corridor was one of the reasons the deal was so difficult to navigate.
The Ambassador for Gaslight to Canada https://t.co/ebYaNyWEii
— Andrew MacDougall (@AGMacDougall) July 3, 2026
And Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens told National Post in a separate interview that “there is absolutely no doubt that the interests of the private operator of the Ambassador Bridge are completely in play with respect to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge.”
He added that he hopes Carney will “play the long game” instead of “go(ing) on bent knee to the United States and accept a bad deal to get this bridge open.”
Hoekstra’s comments to Global News come after his appearance on The Food Professor podcast , in which he claimed that Canada paying to construct the Gordie Howe International Bridge is “ the big myth that is out there.”
“I think it’s important that people realize this,” he said. “Because I hear it all the time. What does America have to do with this? We paid for the bridge. It’s our bridge. Just open it.”
NEW EPISODE OUT!No edits. No filters. Just a candid conversation with Pete Hoekstra.In our Season 6 finale of The Food Professor Podcast, Ambassador Hoekstra tackles the issues everyone is talking about:➡️The future of CUSMA➡️The real story behind the Gordie Howe… pic.twitter.com/U4ii8qQcqv
— The Food Professor (@FoodProfessor) July 2, 2026
In reality, Canada paid for the bridge over the Detroit River, and a deal was struck to allow Canada to collect the tolls until those costs are recouped, after which the revenue would be split, with Michigan and Canada sharing ownership.
But Hoekstra said that as the bridge generates revenue, the cost will be paid back. “The bridge will actually be paid for by the folks who are using the bridge. It will not be paid for by the Canadian government. So, Canada put the money up front, but at the end of the day, the expectation is that there will be a ‘use tax’ that will pay for the bridge.”
Michigan and Canadian officials planned an opening ceremony for the $6.4 billion bridge last month, but the event was abandoned at the last moment when U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly intervened.
Hoekstra claimed that the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge is stalled because the U.S. wants to review the impact of construction costs and delays on the revenue-sharing arrangement.
“We have a bridge that has come in significantly over budget and has come in significantly later than originally forecast. That has changed the business model,” he said during the podcast appearance.
Hoekstra claimed that both the U.S. and Canadian governments “look forward” to getting the bridge open, but have “recognized that there are some issues that are outstanding” that need to be “ironed out.”
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