Trump threatens to retake control of Panama Canal unless deal reached

US president-elect also seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, saying canal should not be managed by China

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Incoming US president Donald Trump slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington. File photo: AFP

Published: 1:33pm, 22 Dec 2024Updated: 12:17am, 23 Dec 2024

US president-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage, which allows ships to cross between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

In a Saturday evening post on social media, Trump also warned that he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands”, and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing that the canal should not be managed by China.

China does not control or administer the canal. However, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings manages two ports located on the Caribbean and Pacific entrances to the canal, respectively.

The post was a very rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

“It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he wrote.