By Gram Slattery
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging exorbitant fees for use of the Panama Canal and said if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable manner it would sever the U.S.’s hand -Allies demand it’s over.
In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned that he would not allow the channel to fall into the “wrong hands” and appeared to warn of possible Chinese influence on the passage, writing that the channel was not owned by China may be managed.
The post was an extremely rare example of a U.S. politician saying he could pressure a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underscores an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy under Trump, who in the past has not shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with his counterparts.
The United States largely built the canal and managed the area surrounding the passage for decades. But in 1999, after a period of shared management, the U.S. government handed control of the canal completely to Panama.
“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially given the extraordinary generosity that has been shown to Panama by the United States,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
“It was not given for the benefit of others, but simply as a sign of cooperation with us and Panama. 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.
The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
