The president of Panama delivered a clear message in response to a surprise threat from Donald Trump on Sunday: You can't have the canal back.
- "As president, I want to express clearly that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone belongs to Panama, and will continue to do so," said President Jose Raul Mulino in a statement, per the Hill. "The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable."
- To which Trump responded on Truth Social, "We'll see about that!"
The issue surfaced when Trump complained during a speech on Sunday about the "ridiculous" shipping fees Panama charges the US. "We're being ripped off," declared Trump, who also suggested that China had too much influence over the canal. When an audience member yelled, "Take it back," Trump responded, "That's a good idea." Mulino defended the fees, saying they are set in a transparent manner, and he denied China had too much sway. Bloomberg notes that China doesn't control the canal but that a Chinese company "controls two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, one on each side."
The 51-mile canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and roughly 2.5% of all maritime trade passes through it, according to the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Panama gave the US permission to build the canal and control its adjacent land in 1904, per Axios, and President Carter signed a treaty in 1977 that returned the canal to Panama in 1999. "It was given to Panama and to the people of Panama, but it has provisions," said Trump. "You got to treat us fairly and they haven't treated us fairly." (More Panama Canal stories.)
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