Getty ImagesPresident-elect Donald Trump has demanded that Panama reduce tolls on the Panama Canal or return it to US control, accusing the Central American country of charging “exorbitant prices” to US naval and naval vessels.
“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, extremely unfair,” he told a crowd of supporters in Arizona on Sunday.
“This total looting of our country will immediately stop,” he said, referring to when he takes office next month.
His remarks drew a swift rebuke from Panama's president, who said “every square meter” of the canal and its surroundings belonged to his country.
President Jose Raul Mulino added that Panama's sovereignty and independence are non-negotiable.
Trump made the comments to supporters of Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group that has provided significant support for his 2024 re-election campaign.
It was a rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could get a country to surrender territory — though he did not explain how he would do it — and a sign of how U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy could change after he takes office. home after his inauguration on January 20.
Trump's comments followed a similar post a day earlier in which he said the Panama Canal was a “vital national asset” for the US.
If shipping tariffs aren't reduced, Trump said Sunday, “we're going to demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, quickly and with no questions asked.”
The 51-mile (82 km) long Panama Canal crosses the Central American country and is the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
It was built in the early 1900s. and the US maintained control of the Canal Zone until 1977, when treaties gradually ceded the land back to Panama. After a period of joint control, Panama assumed sole control in 1999.
Up to 14,000 ships cross the canal annually, including container ships carrying cars, natural gas and other goods, as well as warships.
In addition to Panama, the president-elect also targeted Canada and Mexico for what he called unfair trade practices. He accused them of allowing drugs and immigrants into the U.S., even as he called Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a “wonderful woman.”
Trump hits the usual themes
Trump made the remarks in front of thousands at the annual Turning Point conference, one of the largest gatherings of conservative activists in the country.
Turning Point poured massive resources into get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states to support Trump and other Republicans on the campaign trail.
It was his first speech since a deal passed by Congress this week to keep the US government open after several provisions were removed, including one that would have raised the country's debt ceiling.
Trump supported raising the debt ceiling, which limits the amount of money the US government can borrow.
But his speech on Sunday avoided that question entirely, instead summarizing his election victory and touching on topics — including immigration, crime and foreign trade — that have been mainstays of his campaign.
However, he did mention Elon Musk.
“You know, they're on a new beat,” he said. “All the different scams. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.”
“No, no, that's not happening,” he said. “He will not become president.”
Several speakers here at the conference were critical of government spending and of politicians in both parties — but the divisions within the Republican Party that have played out in Congress in recent days have been mostly muted.