Trump escalates the threats: the US will take over the strategic path

Trump is expected to return to the White House in just a month, but already he is openly and extrovertly managing his expected foreign policy. After threatening yesterday (Sunday) to take over the Panama Canal – he conducted an open and publicized confrontation with the President of Panama, and intensified his rhetoric and threats.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino responded yesterday to Trump’s threat to retake control of the Panama Canal, one of the most important shipping routes in the world, and expressed a strong protest against the attempt to threaten the sovereignty of his country. “Every square meter of the canal and the area surrounding it belongs to Panama, the country’s independence and sovereignty are non-negotiable,” he said. “Any objection to the sovereignty agreement of the Panama Canal is invalid.”

Message from President José Raúl Mulino pic.twitter.com/DMXU8qAuNT

— José Raúl Mulino (@JoseRaulMulino) December 22, 2024

Molino’s words came after Trump claimed that the Panamanian government was charging “exorbitant prices” for ship traffic in the canal, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. According to Trump, if Panama does not lower the prices – the US will be forced to regain control of the canal.

Last night, Trump continued the online brawl with Panamanian President Molino, and responded to his words. “We’ll see about that,” Trump wrote in one post in which the Panamanian president responded to his words. In another post he published at the same time he wrote: “Welcome to the US Canal” – with a picture of the Panama Canal with the US flag on it.

President-elect Trump responds to the President of Panama who was responding to Trump. pic.twitter.com/8t32VnWxBF

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) December 22, 2024

In a post he published on his social network Truth Social, Trump claimed that “the tariffs charged by the Panama Canal are ridiculous, especially if you know the extreme generosity of the United States towards Panama. This fraud of our country will stop immediately.”

The United States is the largest customer of the canal and is responsible for about 75% of the goods that pass through it every year. However, a prolonged drought that has affected the region in recent years makes it difficult for ships to move through the canal, between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Economic adviser to the President Joe Biden said last week that the resulting disruptions have damaged the commodity supply chain and had the effect of accelerating inflation in the US.

The US completed the construction of the canal, which is 82 km long, in 1914. In 1999, it handed the canal over to Panama as part of an agreement signed by former US President Jimmy Carter 22 years before. Trump called the move “stupid “.

According to data from the government authority in Panama that manages the canal, it generated revenues of $2.47 billion for the country this year. This is the second year in a row of a decrease in income due to the drought.

In a post he published, Trump warned that the canal could fall into the wrong hands – of China, the second largest customer of the canal. A Chinese company based in Hong Kong controls two of the five ports adjacent to the canal, one on each side. Panamanian President Molino claimed last night: “There is no direct or indirect influence of China or any other country on the canal.”

“We did not hand it over so that others could benefit from it, but as a sign of the cooperation between us and Panama,” claimed the president-elect tonight. “If the moral and legal principles of this generous gesture are not respected, we will demand to receive back the canal in full and without questions. The authorities in Panama must act accordingly.”