Detroit bridge owner donates $1 million to MAGA PAC before Trump's Gordie Howe Bridge post, records show
The owner of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor donated $1 million to MAGA Inc., a political action committee supporting President Trump, less than a month before the president threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, according to documents from the Federal Election Commission.
Details of the donation by Matthew Moroun were obtained by CBS News Detroit and first reported by The New York Times. News of the donation is the latest surrounding the Gordie Howe Bridge after Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this month that he would stop it from opening "until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them."
The president also demands that Canada "treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve."
Moroun's name was later brought to light after The Times first reported that he met with U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before Mr. Trump's post. In response, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib requested documentation detailing Moroun's meeting and any communication with White House officials.
In a letter to Moroun last week, Garcia and Tlaib accuse the bridge owner of trying to "derail" the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which they say could reduce toll revenue at the Ambassador Bridge. Both bridges connect Detroit to Windsor.
"It is flatly unacceptable and undeniably corrupt for a wealthy donor to dictate our foreign and economic policy in order to protect their own personal business interests," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Attempts to reach Moroun have gone unanswered. CBS News Detroit also reached out to the White House and Lutnick's office for comment and did not hear back.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which has been under construction since 2018, is intended to provide another route across the busy international border area between Michigan and Ontario, especially for commercial trucks. It is expected to open this year.
The bridge is jointly owned by Michigan and Canada, with Canada footing the construction costs. The Canadian government planned to recoup the funding through toll revenue.
"The Gordie Howe International Bridge project is bringing significant economic benefit across North America by encouraging investment, helping to maintain and create thousands of jobs, and generating new business and tourism opportunities," the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said in a statement earlier this month.
The Ambassador Bridge opened to the public in November 1929. The Moroun family took control of the bridge in 1979 when Detroit-native and owner of Central Cartage Company, Manuel J. "Matty" Moroun, acquired it.
