Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal over ‘ridiculous’ fees | Donald Trump

Donald Trump called for the Panama Canal to be returned to the United States if Panama did not manage the waterway in a manner acceptable to him – and accused the Central American country of charging excessive fees to use the shipping passage connecting the ocean.

“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially given the extraordinary generosity the US has shown to Panama,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Saturday, just over a month before the start of his second US presidency. “This complete ‘rip-off’ 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 of possible Chinese influence on the passage, writing that the canal should not be managed by China.

Trump said the Panama Canal was a “vital national asset” for the US and called it “critical” to trade and national security.

The warning comes days after Trump, in an early morning thought-explosion, mused that Canadians might want to make Canada the 51st nation of the U.S. and derided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”

Trump’s Panama thinking underscores an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy after he takes office in January, particularly with regard to China and European security. On Friday, the Financial Times reported that Trump’s team told European officials that he would require NATO member states to increase defense spending to 5% of their GDP.

But Trump’s rhetorical threat to Panama comes 25 years after the U.S. handed over full control of the canal to Panama following a period of shared management.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Accords, 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 managed by the Panama Canal Authority.

The United States completed the 51-mile canal through the Central American Isthmus in 1914 and is still the canal’s largest customer, responsible for about three-quarters of the cargo transported through the canal annually.

China is the canal’s second-largest customer, and a Chinese company based in Hong Kong controls two of the five ports bordering the canal, one on each side.

However, a prolonged drought has affected the canal’s ability to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific. Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said last week that shipping disruptions had contributed to supply chain pressures.

Severe drought conditions on the Panama Canal saw a 29% decline in ship transits last fiscal year, according to the canal authority. From October 2023 to September 2024, only 9,944 ships passed through the canal, compared to 14,080 the previous year.

In his post, Trump suggested that the canal was at risk of falling into the wrong hands and said managing the canal was not China’s responsibility.

“It was not given for the benefit of others, but simply as a sign of cooperation with us and Panama,” Trump said.

“If the moral and legal principles of this generous gesture of giving are not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in full and without question.” To Panamanian officials, please be guided accordingly!”

A Panamanian government official told Bloomberg late Saturday that he was aware of Trump’s statement and that there would be a formal response in the coming days.

Last month, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega unveiled plans for a 276.5-mile (445 km) interoceanic waterway that would provide an alternative to neighboring Panama’s waterway.

In a proposal to Chinese investors at a regional economic summit, Ortega said “every day it becomes more complicated to travel through Panama” and said Nicaragua’s canal project could attract Chinese and American investment, noting that the U.S. is already over the Construction of a Nicaraguan canal would have been thought about as far back as 1854.