West Palm Beach, Florida (Reuters) – The president-elect Donald Trump threatened to regain United States control over the accusing the country of charging excessive fees to use the Central American strait, which allows ships to pass between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
In a post on Saturday night on your network Truth SocialTrump warned that he will not let the channel fall into the “wrong hands” and appeared to warn of a possible Chinese influence in the areawriting that the channel should not be run by China.
China does not control or manage the canal. However, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchinson Holdings manages two ports located at the Caribbean and Pacific entrances to the canal, respectively.
The post was an extremely rare example of a US leader saying he is pressuring a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also highlights a long-awaited change in US diplomacy under Trump, who has historically not shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with his peers.
“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been extended to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social.
“The canal was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a sign of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of donation are not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full and without question,” he wrote.
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Panama’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The United States built much of the canal and administered the territory around the passage for decades. But the country and Panama signed two agreements in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed over control of the canal in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
