23rd December 2024 – (Washington) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has described the Panama Canal as “a vital national asset” and threatened to retake control of the waterway, citing what he terms “exorbitant prices” imposed on American vessels. In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Panama of treating the United States “in a very unfair and injudicious way” by levying high fees on U.S. Navy and commercial ships transiting the canal.
“This complete ‘rip-off’ of our country will immediately stop,” Trump declared, signalling a potential shift in U.S. policy regarding the canal, which serves as a crucial maritime trade route linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The canal was handed over to Panamanian control in 1999 as part of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which were signed in 1977 amid significant pressure from the Panamanian populace. The United States initially constructed the canal following a treaty signed in 1903, and it operated under U.S. jurisdiction until the transfer of control.
