Almost 15 years ago, Canada agreed to pay in full for the bridge’s construction to overcome American political resistance and get the project underway, seen as necessary infrastructure to solve a trade bottleneck.

The bridge will help support more than C$1 billion (US$710 million; £530 million) of freight passing through the Windsor-Detroit crossing each day.

When Canada first took on the construction project, which will be owned by both Ottawa and Michigan, it agreed to share toll revenue with the U.S. state only once its costs were paid.

Then, earlier this year, shortly before a planned inauguration ceremony, Trump said he would block its opening until Canada agreed to “share authority” and ownership.

“Maybe we should own at least half of this asset,” he said at the time.

The bridge has long faced opposition from the Moroun family in Michigan, which owns the neighboring Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial border crossing in North America and one of the few privately owned.

Billionaire Matthew Maroun, who is also a Trump donor, met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before the president’s remarks, according to a New York Times report.

In June, Carney announced that Canada had agreed to a U.S. request to delay the bridge’s opening to allow for future negotiations.

Eager to open up the vital trade link, Ottawa agreed to split half of the bridge’s revenue over the next 15 years with an economic development fund “exclusively controlled” by the U.S. government.

Trump touted in a recent social media post that the new deal was “MUCH BETTER” for the United States.

The consequences of the bridge occur in a context of a challenging trade dispute with Canada and the United States. While running to be elected prime minister, Carney promised to solve the problem with an “elbows up” approach, referring to a combative style of hockey coined by Gordie Howe himself.

Now Carney faces criticism for bowing to a U.S. administration that many Canadians believe treats their country unfairly.

“We are dealing with an administration like we have never seen before,” Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and fellow at the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs, told the BBC.

“They renege on agreements. They don’t comply with them. It’s like dealing with pirates.”