US President Donald Trump is threatening to block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is slated to become the newest border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.

“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States receives full compensation for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States fairly and with the respect we deserve,” Trump wrote in a post on Monday.

CBC News has asked the White House for further clarification.

The $6.4 billion cost of the Gordie Howe Bridge was fully funded by the Canadian federal government.

Construction of the six-lane crossing began in 2018 and was on track for completion late last year, with an anticipated opening of unspecified date in early 2026.

The new bridge was at the center of a decades-long legal battle between the American owners of the existing Ambassador Bridge and the federal government.

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge, the Moroun family of Detroit, wants compensation because they claim that the new bridge is a violation of their exclusive right to collect tolls.

The Moroun family appealed to Trump during his first presidential term to stop the new transition. However, Trump accepted the bridge as a priority project 2017, issuing a joint statement with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it a “vital economic link between our two countries”.