{"id":210520,"date":"2025-01-08T10:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T10:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/08\/why-does-trump-want-the-panama-canal-heres-what-to-know\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T10:30:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T10:30:11","slug":"why-does-trump-want-the-panama-canal-heres-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/08\/why-does-trump-want-the-panama-canal-heres-what-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Does Trump Want the Panama Canal? Here\u2019s What to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/26\/multimedia\/26DC-PANAMA-bzmf\/26DC-PANAMA-bzmf-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Why Does Trump Want the Panama Canal? Here\u2019s What to Know\" title=\"Why Does Trump Want the Panama Canal? Here\u2019s What to Know\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday refused to rule out <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2025\/01\/07\/us\/trump-news\" title=\"\">using military force to retake the Panama Canal<\/a>, which was returned by the U.S. to that country\u2019s control decades ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last month, Mr. Trump<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>falsely accused Panama of allowing Chinese soldiers to control the vital shipping route, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and of overcharging American ships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He has also claimed Panama <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/23\/us\/politics\/trump-greenland-panama-canal.html\" title=\"\">charges U.S. vessels<\/a> \u201cexorbitant prices,\u201d and warned that if they are not reduced after he takes office next month, he will demand that the United States be granted control of the canal \u201cin full, quickly and without question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While it is unclear what prompted Mr. Trump\u2019s recent obsession with the Panama Canal, some Republicans have long objected to a decades-old treaty that turned the shipping lane over to Panamanian control. When Ronald Reagan ran for president, he said the people of the United States were the canal\u2019s \u201crightful owners\u201d and brought audiences to their feet with the line: \u201cWe bought it; we paid for it; we built it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<p><h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-77510dda\">Who owns the Panama Canal?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After a failed attempt by the French to construct a canal, it was ultimately built by the United States between 1904 and 1914. And the U.S. government managed the canal for several decades. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The U.S. also played a role in the creation of the state of Panama. At the beginning of the 20th century, the isthmus of Panama was part of Colombia. When Colombia rejected a proposed canal treaty, the U.S. government encouraged a rebellion. Colombia\u2019s northern provinces eagerly seceded, forming the Republic of Panama. The United States Navy then kept Colombian troops from suppressing the rebellion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">U.S. control of the canal created significant tensions with Panama. In 1964, anti-American <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1964\/01\/12\/archives\/the-panama-canal-and-the-conflict-surrounding-it-panama-blowup.html\" title=\"\">riots broke out<\/a> in the U.S.-controlled canal zone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The riots led to the renegotiation of the Panama Canal treaties. In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Panamanian leader Omar Efra\u00edn Torrijos signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>agreements guaranteed the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal. After a period of joint custody, the treaties called for the United States to relinquish control over the canal by the year 2000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Panama took full control in 1999, and has since operated the canal through the Panama Canal Authority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Carter, who died on Dec. 29, always <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/02\/us\/politics\/carter-panama-canal.html\" title=\"\">considered the treaties to be signature achievement<\/a>s, and they figured prominently in his obituary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThrough a bizarre accident of timing, we now have one president fantasizing about taking back the canal at just the time the world recognizes the canal transfer as an important part of a late president\u2019s legacy,\u201d said James Fallows, who was Mr. Carter\u2019s speechwriter at the time and accompanied the president on that 1978 trip to Panama.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-6a756af6\">How has Panama responded?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement of rebuke to Mr. Trump last month, President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino of Panama wrote \u201cevery square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to PANAMA.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino also said U.S. vessels are not being overcharged. Rates being charged to ships and naval vessels, he insisted, are \u201cnot on a whim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Panamanian officials said all countries are subject to the same fees, though they would differ based on ship size. They are established in public meetings by the Panama Canal Authority, and take into account market conditions, international competition, operating and maintenance costs, Mr. Mulino said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rates have gone up recently, however. That\u2019s because starting in 2023, Panama experienced severe drought, driven by a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/14\/business\/panama-canal-drought.html\" title=\"\">combination of El Ni\u00f1o and climate change<\/a>, which Mr. Trump has called a hoax. With water levels at Gatun Lake, the principal hydrological reserve for the canal, at historically low levels, authorities reduced shipping through the canal to conserve the lake\u2019s fresh water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A Trump spokeswoman said that because the United States is the biggest user of the canal, the increase in fees hits its ships the most. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<p><h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-46700072\">What is China\u2019s role in the Panama Canal?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Chinese soldiers are not, as Mr. Trump has claimed, \u201coperating\u201d the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for the love of God,\u201d Mr. Mulino said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroompanama.com\/2024\/12\/26\/there-is-nothing-to-discuss-the-panama-canal-is-panamanian-mulino-tells-trump\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in a speech Thursday<\/a>. \u201cThe world is free to visit the canal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A Hong Kong-based firm, CK Hutchison Holdings, does manage two ports at the canal\u2019s entrances. And some experts have said that does raise valid competitive and security concerns for the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ryan C. Berg, the director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, noted that CK Hutchison would likely have data on all ships coming through the Panama Canal. China has been using its shipping and maritime operations to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2023\/09\/20\/china-shipping-maritime-logistics-lanes-trade-ports-security-espionage-intelligence\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">gather foreign intelligence<\/a> and conduct espionage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cChina exercises, or could exercise, a certain element of control even absent some military conflagration,\u201d Mr. Berg said. \u201cI think there is reason to be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fmprc.gov.cn\/eng\/xw\/fyrbt\/202412\/t20241223_11515858.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said Tuesday<\/a> that China \u201cwill as always respect Panama\u2019s sovereignty\u201d over the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">China is the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the United States. In 2017, Panama <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/13\/world\/asia\/taiwan-panama-china-diplomatic-recognition.html\" title=\"\">cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan<\/a> and recognized the island as part of China, a major win for Beijing.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-3611b0db\">Can the United States reassert control?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Not easily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino has made clear the Panama Canal is not for sale. He noted that the treaties established permanent neutrality of the canal and \u201cguaranteeing its open and safe operation for all nations.\u201d And the Senate ratified the Panama Canal treaties in 1978.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mick Mulvaney, Mr. Trump\u2019s former chief of staff, suggested that the provocations were merely part of a negotiating tactic to get rates down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYou know, I don\u2019t envision American troops going in to retake the canal, but you got to think that someone is out there scratching their head going, \u2018Is Donald Trump crazy enough to do something like that?\u2019\u201d Mr. Mulvaney said Tuesday on \u201cThe Hill\u201d on NewsNation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Berg said the neutrality agreement made it unlikely that Panama would even be able to grant special rates to the United States. And, he noted, Mr. Mulino is \u201cincredibly pro-American\u201d and likely eager to help the incoming Trump administration deal with issues like illegal immigration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPresident Mulino is going to be a great ally with the United States,\u201d Mr. Berg said. \u201cWe should not want this to devolve into some kind of political fight because we\u2019re going to need President Mulino on a number of other issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But there is, as Mr. Trump has threatened, a military option. Mr. Trump could as president order an invasion of Panama. Under the terms of its constitution, Panama has no army. But experts dismissed Mr. Trump\u2019s threat on Tuesday as empty intimidation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf the U.S. wanted to flout international law and act like Vladimir Putin, the U.S. could invade Panama and recover the canal,\u201d said Benjamin Gaden, director of the Wilson Center\u2019s Latin America Program in Washington. \u201cNo one would see it as a legitimate act, and it would bring not only grievous damage to their image, but instability to the canal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/08\/world\/americas\/trump-panama-canal.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday refused to rule out using military force to retake the Panama Canal, which was returned by the U.S. to that country\u2019s control decades ago. Last month, Mr. Trump falsely accused Panama of allowing Chinese soldiers to control the vital shipping route, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/26\/multimedia\/26DC-PANAMA-bzmf\/26DC-PANAMA-bzmf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11921,160787,163575,671,10936,11920,165601,26420,52,128437,163486],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210520"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210522,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210520\/revisions\/210522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}