DEARBORN, Mich. — Two top Trump advisers privately pushed back this week on plans to open the long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge, according to three sources familiar with the behind-the-scenes discussions.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had been appointed by President Donald Trump to lead discussions with the Canadians about opening the $4.7 billion Detroit River bridge. But they were not alerted or consulted about the plan to move forward with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Friday ― as first reported by The Detroit News ― and learned about it from media reports on Monday morning, according to a source familiar with the timeline.

“Lots of people objected because they were caught off guard,” Hoekstra told The Detroit News on Thursday.

Two of the sources who spoke to The News on condition of anonymity said Canadian government officials were fearful the project would face a backlash from Hoekstra and Lutnick if the bridge opening went forward.

So the Canadians, through the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, on Thursday morning abruptly postponed the festivities planned for Friday afternoon in Windsor to celebrate the opening of the $4.7 billion, six-lane span between Michigan and Ontario, citing “outstanding issues” that require resolution.

"Canada and the United States have agreed to delay the opening of the bridge, taking the necessary time to resolve any outstanding issues," Chuck Andary, interim chief executive officer and chief legal officer for the WDBA, said in a statement.

Statements from the WDBA, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office and Hoekstra did not indicate there are any technical issues with the operation of the bridge, which has become entangled in U.S.-Canadian trade negotiations.

"The bridge is done," Whitmer said at a Thursday event in Dearborn for a different bridge project.

The WDBA had been planning to open the bridge to traffic on June 15, two sources with direct knowledge of the plans previously told The News.

But a statement from the Trump administration on Tuesday contradicted the plans for Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, saying no timeline had been finalized for the bridge's opening and that Trump's position on the bridge "has not changed."

Trump had threatened to block the bridge's opening in February, demanding concessions from Canada in trade talks or a share of future toll revenue. On Wednesday, the president suggested to reporters that he might not renew the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade deal.

Trump's comments followed the revelation of a meeting between Lutnick and Matthew Moroun, the billionaire owner of the Ambassador Bridge, whose private crossing will face the first competition for lucrative truck traffic in the Ambassador's 97 years of operation.

"We don't need anything that Canada has. We don't need anything that Mexico has. But they need everything that we have. And they have to treat us better," Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office.

The White House did not respond Thursday to requests for comment.

Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, declined to discuss a specific timeline for the bridge's opening in a brief Thursday phone interview.

"Where we are right now is we've got the right folks talking and working on getting the bridge open," Hoekstra told The News.

"We're doing it collaboratively and, when our discussions are done, there will be an announcement on the day when the bridge will open, and we'll have the appropriate events at that time."

In February, Trump said he wanted concessions from Canada in trade negotiations as part of a deal to open the new bridge. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has been pushing for a new North American trade deal that would require more U.S. content in vehicles assembled in Canada and Mexico.

In Lansing, House Speaker Matt Hall, who is an ally of Trump, suggested on Thursday that the holdup has to do with U.S. officials attempting to get a share of the bridge's toll revenues earlier than called for under a 2012 deal with Canada that was negotiated under former Gov. Rick Snyder, a fellow Republican. Monday marks the 14th anniversary of Snyder signing the new bridge crossing agreement with then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Michigan and Canada share ownership of the bridge, but Canada gets all of the revenue until the debt is paid off. WDBA officials have not said when they project the debt will be repaid.

Hall contended the escalating cost of the bridge project and declining border traffic will mean that the amount of money that the Canadians are going to collect won't cover the operating cost of the bridge, "which means we're never going to have ownership of the bridge, we're never going to have revenue from the bridge."

"That's a bad deal," Hall told reporters Thursday.

Hall said Michigan has "nominal ownership rights" to the bridge, but lacks property rights over the span.

"You can't buy, you can't sell, you can't lease, you can't collect any revenue from it, you can't make improvements. You can't do anything," the speaker said. "That's not ownership."

Hall also said he wants to see a deal that provides "more balance" in the makeup of the board that governs the bridge. The board of directors of the WDBA, a Canadian public corporation, is dominated by Canadians.

One former Canadian official said the longer the U.S. delays the opening of the bridge, the longer it will take for Canada's debt to be paid off, and it becomes a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

"The president's action, if this persists month after month after month, has the effect of delaying the point in time at which Michigan ultimately receives its share of revenues, which is ironic and perverse," said Roy Norton, a former Canadian consul general to Detroit who played a key role in the 2012 agreement between Canada and Michigan to build the new bridge.

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga is a Michigan Republican and former state lawmaker who co-chairs the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. He stressed that the U.S. and Canada have the largest trading partnership in the entire world ― one that many industries rely on ― and that U.S. officials need to figure out a way to continue to have “productive, even, balanced” trade with Canada.

“As far as the bridge goes … it’s built. The question is, is there a way to accommodate and come up with an agreement that allows the bridge to operate and keep the free flow of trade going,” Huizenga said.

“There’s no way of unringing the bell of the bridge being built. Now, what do you do?”

Whitmer: Michigan ready to 'move forward'

Invitations for the Gordie Howe ribbon-cutting went out earlier this week following a conversation between Whitmer, a Democrat, and Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles.

But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Wednesday that the bridge opening would be delayed, telling reporters in Ottawa that there's "no big drama."

"Everyone is working hard to make sure the bridge is open as soon as possible," Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

"If it takes a little longer, it'll take a little longer. This will benefit Canadians, Americans, businesses, tourists and residents for decades and decades to come," he said.

Whitmer told reporters Thursday that Michigan’s leaders were ready to “move forward” with opening the Gordie Howe span and were still hoping the new 1.5-mile span could be opened to traffic in “the next few days or weeks.”

“I’m hopeful that we can get it back on track and open it soon,” Whitmer said.

Later Thursday morning, Whitmer was asked if she could provide any additional information about why the ribbon-cutting was delayed. The second-term Democratic governor said she didn’t have any more information to share.

When asked if it was a surprise to her that the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Windsor was called off for Friday, Whitmer said yes and no.

The Trump administration has not said what issues remain unresolved with the Canadians and are preventing the largest infrastructure project in generations from finally opening to traffic between Michigan and Ontario.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens suggested Thursday the bridge opening delay has more to do with Carney's trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

"Although we would all like the @GordieHoweBrg to open, Canada need not fall on bent knee to make it happen," Dilkens wrote on X. "Get us a great trade deal @MarkJCarney!"

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., stressed Thursday that there's "no international drama here."

"The Canadians are our partners. We're working together, and we're going to get this bridge open," Dingell told The News.

Dingell said Hoekstra, a former west Michigan congressman, is a friend whom she speaks to almost daily.

"I know he wants to get this done," she said.

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