By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump has the right to amend a permit for a new bridge between Canada and Michigan, prolonging the latest dispute between the U.S. and its northern neighbor hours after its prime minister signaled there could be a detente.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which would connect Ontario and Michigan, would be a vital economic artery between the two countries and is scheduled to open in early 2026. But Trump has now threatened to block the bridge from being opened, calling for Canada to agree to a litany of unspecified demands as the two nations prepare to renegotiate a sprawling trade pact later this year.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier Tuesday that he spoke with Trump and expressed confidence that the spat would be resolved. But a White House official later Tuesday said the ownership structure of the bridge remains unacceptable for the U.S. president.

Canada paid for the bridge, named after a Canadian-born Detroit Red Wings hockey star. Construction has been underway since 2018.

Related Articles

US to expand passport revocations for parents who owe child support, AP sources say

Trump administration takes down a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument

‘We hold these truths’: Viewing the Declaration of Independence, visitors reflect on America at 250

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledges meetings with Epstein that contradict previous claims

Annual governors gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats

The official said that all international infrastructure projects require a presidential permit, and that Trump would be within his right to amend that permit. The person was granted anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly.

“The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe Bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s also unacceptable that more of this bridge isn’t being built with more American-made materials.”

The new fight over the bridge is the latest volley in an increasingly sour relationship between the United States and Canada, particularly over trade policy. Trump has also mused publicly about acquiring Canada as the 51st U.S. state, much to the dismay of Canadians.

Following his conversation with Trump, Carney said “this is going to be resolved” and noted that he told the U.S. president that the Canadian and Michigan governments shared ownership of the bridge. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office has also emphasized that the bridge will be operated under a joint ownership agreement between the state and Canada, even though the Canadian government paid for it.

Carney also added that U.S. steel was used in the project, which also employed U.S. workers. According to Carney, Trump told him he’ll ask the U.S. ambassador to Canada, former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, to “play a role in smoothing the conversation in and around the bridge.”

Hoekstra did not return an immediate request for comment.

“I look forward to it opening and what is particularly important is the commerce and the tourism of Canadians and Americans that go across that bridge,” Carney said.

The project was negotiated by former Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and paid for by the Canadian government to help ease congestion over the existing Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

Snyder wrote in an op-ed in The Detroit News on Tuesday that Trump was wrong in asserting that Canada owns both the U.S.- and Canadian sides of the Gordie Howe bridge.

“Canada and the state of Michigan are 50/50 owners of the new bridge,” Snyder wrote. “Canada was wonderful and financed the entire bridge. They will get repaid with interest from the tolls. Michigan and the United States got their half-ownership with no investment.”

The former governor also emphasized that parts of the bridge construction were exempt from “Buy America” requirements for its steel because half of the project was outside the U.S. and subsequently, U.S. law should not apply to them.

“President Trump, I would encourage you to challenge your advisers and the sources for your post to correct the information they have provided,” Snyder wrote in the op-ed. He acknowledged some trade issues with Canada, but “picking this bridge as the leverage point doesn’t seem to make the most sense given your other tools.”

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Detectives are investigating the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy Monday night at an apartment complex in Burnsville.

A police spokesperson gave the following details.

About 10:30 p.m., police were called to a shooting at an apartment complex in the 13000 block of Harriet Avenue South in Burnsville. When they arrived, officers and paramedics found a 14-year-old in the lobby who had been shot. They performed life saving measures and the boy was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center where he later died from his injuries, said Steph Kass, communications director for the city.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Based on preliminary information, the shooting does not appear to be random, Kass said, and there is nothing that suggests any threat to the public.

The shooting marks the city’s second homicide of the year.

The first homicide involved the Jan. 25 shooting death of 19-year-old Mohamed Hassan Salad in the parking lot near Andrew’s Pointe Townhomes off Minnesota 13 and East 117th Street.

Related Articles

Daughter of governor candidate Jeff Johnson stabbed to death in St. Cloud

New Mexico lawsuit accuses Meta of failing to protect children from sexual exploitation online

New video footage released from day of the fatal Brown University shooting

FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show

Ghislaine Maxwell appeals for clemency from Trump as she declines to answer questions from lawmakers

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents who owe a significant amount of child support soon could lose their ability to travel internationally as the Trump administration expands and steps up enforcement of a 30-year-old law that allows the federal government to revoke American passports until payments are made, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

While passport revocations for unpaid child support of more than $2,500 have been permitted under 1996 federal legislation, the State Department had in the past acted only when someone applied to renew their travel document or sought other consular services. In other words, enforcement depended on the person approaching the department for assistance.

Starting soon, however, the department will begin to revoke passports on its own initiative based on data shared with it by the Health and Human Services Department, according to the U.S. officials familiar with the plan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the change has not yet been publicly announced.

Related Articles

US-Canada bridge brouhaha deepens as White House says Trump could amend a permit for the project

Trump administration takes down a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument

‘We hold these truths’: Viewing the Declaration of Independence, visitors reflect on America at 250

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledges meetings with Epstein that contradict previous claims

Annual governors gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats

The number of people who could be affected was not immediately clear, but it is believed to be in the thousands. Because of the potentially large universe of those owing child support who currently hold passports, the State Department will make the change in tiers, the officials said.

The first group to be affected will be passport holders who owe more than $100,000 in past-due child support, the officials said. One of the officials said fewer than 500 people meet that threshold and could avoid having their passport revoked if they enter into a payment plan with HHS after being notified of the pending revocation.

The official acknowledged, though, that if and when the threshold is lowered to a smaller past-due amount, the number of those affected will rise significantly. The official could not say when any further changes would take effect or estimate how many people might then lose their passports.

The State Department said in a statement that it “is reviewing options to enforce long-standing law to prevent those owing substantial amounts of child support from neglecting their legal and moral obligations to their children.” It added: “It is simple: deadbeat parents need to pay their child support arrears.”

Since the Passport Denial Program began with the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the initiative has taken in nearly $621 million in past-due child support payments, with nine collections of more than $300,000, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services.

HHS did not respond to questions about how many people are in arrears.

Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.

The result had pretty much been decided a few months ago as Danny Casper prepared to take his shot at the Olympic Trials in Sioux Falls, S.D. There was going to be a changing of the guard in U.S. men’s curling.

As the rock glided down the ice sheet, Casper and his teammates slowly started to come to grips with the reality of the situation. All the hard work they had put it together was about to pay off.

It became official a few seconds later. Team Casper had upset Team Shuster. The cameras caught Casper hugging John Shuster in the immediate aftermath in what felt like a passing of the torch between the faces of the sport.

Meanwhile, Rich Ruohonen hugged Colin Hufman on the other end of the ice, navigating the joy of victory he was feeling with the agony of defeat his friend was feeling. Never mind that they were opponents at the Olympic Trials. They have built a brotherly bond over the past 25 years with curling at the forefront.

“He’s like a little brother to me,” Ruohonen said. “He told me that the only part that was going to make this OK for him was that I get to go.”

It was strange for Hufman as he reflected on the exchange. He didn’t know he could feel so much happiness for somebody he really cared about while also feeling so much sadness for himself.

“It was a surreal moment,” Hufman said. “I’ll never forget that.”

The solace exists in knowing Ruohonen, 54, was finally on the precipice of getting to represent his country on the highest stage. After prevailing at the trials in dramatic fashion, Team Casper dominated at the Olympic Qualifying Event to secure its spot.

“That was the most stressful time for me,” Ruohonen said. “The only thing that would’ve been worse than losing the Olympic Trials would be winning the Olympic Trials and still not being able to go.”

There’s a chance that Ruohonen doesn’t throw a single rock over the next week and a half at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Technically, he’s the alternate on Team Casper, so he might not participate in competition.

That won’t take away from the lifetime achievement. After coming up short in the trials a half dozen times, Ruohonen, who graduated from Spring Lake Park and lives in Brooklyn Park, has finally broken through. His perseverance has made him the oldest U.S. Winter Olympian. Ever.

“Just talking about it is giving me goosebumps,” Ruohonen said. “It’s been such a long road for me to get here. There’s been a lot of heartbreak for the past 25 years. This makes it all worth it.”

This is the culmination of a journey for Ruohonen that can be traced back to the St. Paul Curling Club. His introduction into the sport as a little kid came before anybody on Team Casper was born.

“When did I get my start?” Ruohonen said. “Alright, so back in the eighteen hundreds …”

He let out a boisterous laugh as he landed the punchline on the Dad Joke, and it provided some insight into his personality. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, which, in turn, has allowed him to keep going amid so much disappointment.

Maybe the most impressive part about Ruohonen’s continued commitment to curling is how successful he is outside of it; he has established himself as a very successful lawyer in the Twin Cities. You know those TSR Injury Law billboards that can been seen pretty much everywhere? He’s literally the R.

“It would’ve been really easy for him at some point to go, ‘I don’t need something that takes up so much of my time,’ ” Hufman said. “He’s truly somebody who does it for the love of the game.”

That said, Ruohonen has flirted with the idea of retirement a couple of times, most recently after he narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Though he still played competitively from time to time, he didn’t set his sights on the 2026 Games.

Not until Team Casper reached out to him roughly 18 months ago.

After learning that Casper had been diagnosed with Guillain Barré Syndrome, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, Aidan Oldenburg, Ben Richardson and Luc Violette needed somebody with experience that could help them in the interim. It’s exactly what Ruohonen could bring to the table.

He had so much success as a substitute that Team Casper asked him to stick around. They have continued on an upward trajectory ever since.

“I will go to the mat saying that they wouldn’t have been able to beat us if they hadn’t picked him up when they did,” Hufman said. “I think his experience kind of allowed them to move through some steps faster than they would have without him.”

Now that Casper is feeling healthier, Ruohonen has taken on more of supporting role, doing whatever he can possibly do to make life easier for his teammates.

“I’ve heard a lot of jokes like, ‘It looks like some dad is taking his kids to the Olympics,’ ” Ruohonen said. “I own it because I am old. I don’t mind being the dad of the group. I’d like to think of myself more like the crazy older brother.”

He paused.

“I guess I am twice their age,” Ruohonen said. “We can call it what it is.”

Not that affected his ability to fit in.

“His maturity level is probably on par with us,” Oldenburg said. “Maybe even lower.”

The friendly ribbing is rooted in respect.

“He deserves it because he has put in so much hard work to get here,” Oldenburg said. “It would’ve been very easy for him to give up or stop trying as hard as he does. Nope. He puts in the same amount of work as we do.”

As he tried to think about what it would be like at the 2026 Winter Games, Ruohonen made sure to highlight his wife and his kids and how much their support has meant to him. It’s not lost on him how big of a sacrifice the sport has been for them. He couldn’t be more thrilled to share the experience with them along for the ride.

“I can’t believe it,” Ruohonen said. “I retired twice. I thought it was over, and I was OK with that. To have it come full circle where now I’m going to the Olympics is insane.”

Meanwhile, Hufman, who was an alternate at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, will watch with pride from afar, still feeling the full palette of emotions he felt a few months ago when he hugged Ruohonen on the ice.

“I want people to understand the nuance of it, because I think it matters,” Hufman said. “I’m still not over it, and I don’t know when I will be. I’m also so happy that my friend finally gets to experience that. I think I’ll look back on it and be happier knowing we both got that opportunity in our lives.”

U.S. Olympians Luc Violette, Benjamin Richardson, Rich Ruohonen, Daniel Casper and Aidan Oldenburg attend the Team USA Welcome Experience at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics on February 04, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

Related Articles

Sweden beats United States’ Duluth duo for Olympic gold in mixed doubles curling

‘Miracle’ teammates continue work of late teammate Mark Pavelich

Raedler and Huber of Austria win team combined at the Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin is 4th

‘Don’t jump in them’: Olympic athletes’ medals break during celebrations

US figure skater Amber Glenn resolves copyright issues with a Canadian music artist at the Olympics