Moroun made mega MAGA gift before Trump threatened Gordie Howe bridge

Moroun made mega MAGA gift before Trump threatened Gordie Howe bridge

Free Press staff

Feb. 22, 2026, 6:05 a.m. ET

Matthew Moroun, whose family essentially owns the Ambassador Bridge, contributed $1 million to the MAGA Inc. political action committee less than a month before President Donald Trump threatened to block the opening of the competing Gordie Howe International Bridge.

The donation to the pro-Trump campaign account, first reported by The New York Times and Detroit News, is the second recent development to raise questions about whether the billionaire businessman is using his wealth to influence international trade to protect his family's stranglehold on bridge traffic between Canada and the United States.

The Times also reported that Moroun met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Feb. 9 and, hours after the meeting, Lutnick called Trump, who subsequently criticized the Gordie Howe bridge as a bad deal for America. In 2017, during his first term, Trump hailed the new bridge as a boon to trade between the United States and Canada.

Moroun could not be reached for comment Saturday, Feb. 21.

White House spokesman Kush Desai wrote in an email to the Free Press: “President Trump has consistently and vocally stood up for American interests – including against Canada. Infrastructure being built over America’s border that connects Canada’s $2.3 trillion economy to America’s $30 trillion economy should first and foremost benefit America and Americans. The only special interest guiding President Trump’s decision-making is the best interest of the American people.”

MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said donations to the committee "have no bearing on government policy and any suggestion otherwise is falsely making a connection where it does not exist," The Times reported.

The Times also reported that the Morouns' Detroit International Bridge Company paid $250,000 last year to the lobbying firm of Brian Ballard, "a top Trump fundraiser whose clients have donated millions to MAGA Inc." and that the firm lobbied the White House, Congress and the State Department "on behalf of the bridge company about 'issues related to construction and operation of international bridges.'"

On Feb. 18, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, sent Moroun a letter requesting "information regarding your communication with the Trump Administration."

The letter, sent from the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform, accuses Moroun of attempting to "derail the project, as the new Gordie Howe International Bridge could reduce toll revenue on the Ambassador Bridge."

The Ambassador Bridge, built in 1929, is the main artery trucks use to haul goods between Detroit and Windsor.

The Moroun family and their companies tried for years to block construction of the new bridge. Canada ultimately agreed to pay for it to get the project moving because Michigan lawmakers, including many who received campaign contributions from the Morouns, had blocked the project for several years.

Under a deal brokered by Canada and then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, Michigan will use its share of Gordie Howe bridge toll revenue to reimburse Canada for some of the construction costs.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has called for the bridge to open later this year as scheduled.

It is not clear what, if anything, Trump will do to keep that from happening.