AgenPress – Donald Trump has called for the Panama Canal to be returned to the United States if Panama does not manage the waterway in a way acceptable to it, and has accused the Central American country of charging excessive fees for use of the connecting sea passage.
“The rates charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially when you consider the extraordinary generosity extended to Panama by the United States,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Saturday evening, just over a month before the start of his second U.S. presidency. “This complete 'scam' of our country will stop immediately.”
In the evening post, Trump also warned that he would not let the channel fall into the “wrong hands”. And he appeared to warn about potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing that the canal should not be operated by China.
Trump said the Canal in Panama it is a “vital national resource” for the United States, calling it “crucial” to trade and national security.
The warning comes just days after Trump, in a morning interview, he expressed the desire that Canadians wanted Canada to become the 51st American state, mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by calling him “Governor Trudeau.”
Trump's thinking on Panama highlights an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy after he takes office in January, particularly regarding China and European security. Friday, the Financial Times reported that Trump's team had told European officials that it would ask NATO member states to increase defense spending to 5% of their GDP.
However, Trump's rhetorical threat to Panama comes 25 years after the United States ceded full control of the canal to Panama, following a period of joint administration.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which gave Panama control of the canal and the Neutrality Treaty, which allowed the United States to defend the canal's neutrality. The canal is currently administered by the Panama Canal Authority.
The United States completed the 52-mile-long canal across the Central American isthmus in 1914 and is still the canal's largest customer, responsible for about three-quarters of the cargo through it each year.
China is the canal's second largest customer, and a Chinese company based in Hong Kong controls two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, one on each side.
But a prolonged drought has hampered the canal's ability to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said last week that shipping disruptions contributed to supply chain pressures.
The Panama Canal saw a 29% decline in vessel transits in the last fiscal year due to severe drought conditions, according to the canal authority. From October 2023 to September 2024, only 9,944 vessels passed through the canal, compared to 14,080 the previous year.
In his post, Trump implied that the channel was in danger of falling into the wrong hands, saying that management of the channel was not China's.
“It was not given for the benefit of others, but simply as a sign of cooperation with us and Panama,” Trump said.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of donation are not respected, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full and without questions asked. To the officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!”
