Millions of trucks carrying billions of dollars worth of car parts, machinery and a long list of other commodities pass checkpoints along one small stretch of the U.S.-Canada border each year.

It’s known as North America’s busiest land crossing, and it sits between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

NPR’s Don Gonyea recently visited this crossing to take a look at a brand new bridge that sits completed and unopened.

Construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, named for the Hall of Fame Canadian-born hockey legend who played for the Detroit Red Wings, began in 2018. It was set to open early this year. That was before President Trump intervened in a social media post.

Trump demanded that Canada share ownership with the United States before he would allow the bridge to open. Months passed. In June, the bridge authority actually scheduled a grand opening. But at the last minute, it was canceled.

Stephen Laskowski is president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and head of the Ontario Trucking Association. He was about to make his way to the grand opening when he got the news.

“I was heading out. My wife said, ‘Your phone’s ringing’ … it said, don’t bother going,” Laskowski told NPR.

The Canadian government and Michigan jointly own the bridge. Canada agreed to front the cost of construction and to split the toll fees with the state once the cost has been recouped.

But the president has said that isn’t good enough. Some Canadian politicians have suggested the owners of a rival bridge linking Detroit and Windsor are responsible for Trump’s interest in delaying the opening. The Moroun family, which owns the Ambassador Bridge, has given millions to Republicans in recent years, including a $1 million donation to a Trump-aligned super PAC.

Gonyea spoke with WDET reporter Alex McLenon, Canadian residents and others to understand how the bridge’s closure is rippling across the continent.

Is it possible to be ubiquitous and behind-the-scenes at the same time? That pretty much sums up Don Was and his long career in the music business.

After co-leading the funky pop-rock band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s, Was went on to win an armful of Grammy awards as a producer. He’s worked with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bob Weir, to name just a few. Since 2012, he has been president of the legendary Blue Note Records.

Was is also a son of Detroit. In recent years, he put together a band under his own name for the first time: Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble. “We are on a mission to promulgate the indigenous sounds of our hometown of Detroit, Michigan,” he explains.

This is a tight and powerful group, with an emphasis on the groove, but all eyes and ears are on lead vocalist Steffanie Christi’an. In this Tiny Desk performance, she breathes a very different kind of fire into the Grateful Dead classic “The Music Never Stopped” and smolders on re-working of Hank Williams‘ “I Ain’t Got Nothing But Time.” The entire set is a perfect example of how, as the Dead used to say, “the music plays the band.”

SET LIST

• “The Music Never Stopped”
• “You Asked, I Came”
• “Midnight Marauders”
• “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time”
• “Insane”

MUSICIANS

• Don Was: bass
• Steffanie Christi’an: vocals
• Wayne Gerard Milton: guitar
• Luis Resto: keys
• Dave McMurray: tenor sax
• Vincent Chandler: trombone
• John Douglas: trumpet
• Jeff Canady: drums
• Mahindi Masai: percussion 
• Herschel Boone: background vocals 
• Terena Boone: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Felix Contreras
• Director/Editor: Maia Stern
• Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
• Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
• Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
• Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
• Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Vanessa Castillo
• Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

This article was written by Felix Contreras and originally posted on NPR.org.