What did Donald Trump do today?
He bragged about a "deal" but forgot to mention the other side of it.
For the past four months, a brand-new bridge linking the city of Detroit with its Canadian counterpart of Windsor, Ontario has sat unused. Trump closed the American side of the Gordie Howe Bridge in February, weeks before it was due to open, after the owner of a competing bridge, a major Trump donor, asked him to intervene.
That competing bridge, the Ambassador Bridge, charges higher tolls than the new bridge and is in such poor repair that it can't be used by heavy trucks. It also spills directly onto surface streets on the Canadian side. This has meant that, in spite of Detroit/Windsor being a major trading hub, a lot of commerce avoids the region entirely. This is the problem that the new bridge was meant to solve.
Today, Trump announced on his private microblogging site that he had negotiated a "MUCH BETTER DEAL" that would allow the bridge to finally open later this month, touting that the United States will now get a cut of the tolls on a bridge that Canada paid to build.
What he didn't mention was what he gave up—a commitment to share the maintenance costs as well, for at least the next fifteen years. Under the previous arrangement, Canada would have paid for those too. Maintenance costs for bridges of this type are very high, and quickly approach construction costs during the lifespan of a bridge.
In other words, what Trump accomplished in his "MUCH BETTER DEAL" was to shuffle some money around while keeping a new bridge sitting useless for four months, to the benefit of his private political patron.
Why does this matter?
- The economic value of four months of improved trade with the United States' largest trading partner is more important than servicing a Trump donor's demands.
- A president who actually understood the "Art of the Deal" would know about opportunity costs.
- Not letting Americans use a free bridge that's already been built made Trump look stupid, not tough.