Money Grab/Charge for access to the president
Bridge owner Moroun gives a Trump super PAC $1M and Trump moves to block his rival bridge
Matthew Moroun, whose family owns the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, met Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on February 9, 2026, less than a month after giving $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC. That evening Trump said he would block the rival bridge from opening.
What happened
The Ambassador Bridge, owned by the Moroun family, has been the only truck crossing between Detroit and Windsor for nearly a century and one of the most profitable toll bridges in the world. Canada paid for a competing public bridge, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which was finished and due to open in 2026. The Morouns fought it for 20 years.
In January 2026 Matthew Moroun gave $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, the New York Times reported on February 10. On Monday, February 9, he met Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington. Lutnick then called Trump. That evening Trump posted that he would block the new bridge from opening, calling Canadian control of it unacceptable.
The June 2026 ribbon-cutting was cancelled, and the bridge opened July 27 after a toll-sharing arrangement was negotiated. The finished, publicly funded crossing had sat closed for about six weeks. House Democrats opened an inquiry into Moroun’s and Lutnick’s contacts.
Who benefited
The Morouns’ toll revenue depends on the new bridge not opening, and they got a six-week delay and a toll-sharing deal out of a $1 million donation and one meeting. The $1 million went to the super PAC, not to the Trump family, and is not counted in the family’s cash.
Who wanted something
Matthew Moroun’s family had exhausted its legal options against the Gordie Howe bridge years earlier. The remaining path ran through a cabinet secretary who could reach the president the same afternoon, and the $1 million donation preceded the meeting by less than a month.
Who lost out
Michigan, Ontario and the trucking companies that move a quarter of U.S.-Canada trade across that river waited while a finished, publicly funded bridge sat closed. Canada, which paid for the bridge, was told it could not open it.
Why it matters
The timeline runs in hours: a donation in January, a meeting on February 9, a phone call to the president, and a presidential threat that evening. The asset held up was a public bridge paid for by Canada. Every step is on the record: the donation, the meeting, the call, the post.
Sources The New York Times (via Deadline Detroit)Crain's Detroit BusinessAP (via Philadelphia Inquirer)