Canada's Carney says Trump bridge row will be 'resolved'

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to Donald Trump Tuesday and would resolve a row sparked by the US president's threats to block a new bridge between the two countries.

Trump said late Monday that the United States should own "at least half" of the under-construction Gordie Howe bridge that links the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of Michigan.

"I spoke to the president this morning. Regarding the bridge, the situation is going to be resolved," Carney told reporters in Ottawa without giving details.

"I explained that Canada, of course, paid for the construction of the bridge; that the ownership is shared between the state of Michigan and the government of Canada," Carney said.

Work on the $4.7-billion bridge started in 2018 and it is due to open this year. 

It is named after late Canadian-born National Hockey League great and Detroit Red Wings star Gordie Howe, in what was meant to be a symbol of unity between Canada and the United States.

But Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that Canada become the 51st US state, threatened to block the opening of the bridge in a social media post late Monday.

The White House said Tuesday it was "just another example of President Trump putting America's interests first", adding that Trump "made that very clear in his call with Prime Minister Carney."

"The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.

Among other complaints, Trump alleged Canada used "virtually" no US products to build it.

The Canadian premier said he told Trump "there's Canadian steel, Canadian workers, but also US steel, US workers that were involved" in construction.

Carney did not, however, comment on Trump's outlandish claim that as a consequence of Canada pursuing a trade deal with China, Beijing would stop Canadians from playing ice hockey.

"The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup," Trump said in his post on Monday, referring to the annual NHL trophy.

He did not explain how that would happen.