Panama “Fully Rejects” Trump’s Call To Seize Canal

CNN reports:

Trump in his inaugural address on Monday vowed to wrest the canal back. “We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made and Panama’s promise to us been broken,” Trump said, claiming that Panama overcharges the US Navy to transit the canal. “Above all China is operating the Panama Canal,” Trump also said, a frequent claim he has made without providing any evidence. “And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we are taking it back!”

Panama officials have made clear they would not stand for any attempt to seize the lucrative waterway, which about 5% of all global maritime traffic passes through. “I fully reject the insinuating words by President Donald Trump at his inaugural address relating to Panama and its canal,” Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said on X on Monday. “The canal is and will remain Panamanian and its administration will remain under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality.”

Read the full article. At the link you’ll find a deep dive into the “colonialist” creation of the canal by presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

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— José Raúl Mulino (@JoseRaulMulino) January 20, 2025