House GOP Congressman Introduces Bill to Authorize President to Negotiate Return of Panama Canal

The first lock of the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean. Galina Savina/Shutterstock

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) has introduced a bill to authorize the president to negotiate the return of the Panama Canal to the United States, amid President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for the United States to take back control of the key passageway.

“President Trump is right to consider repurchasing the Panama Canal,” Johnson told The Epoch Times.

“China’s interest in and presence around the canal is a cause for concern. America must project strength abroad—owning and operating the Panama Canal might be an important step towards a stronger America and a more secure globe.”

Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29, 2024, at the age of 100, handed sovereignty of the U.S.-built canal to Panama, in an agreement that took effect in 1999. In the agreement, the United States retained the right to take military action to secure the canal from foreign aggression or if the canal is used to interfere with U.S. interests.

The new bill, which The Epoch Times acquired a copy of, would allow the president, in coordination with the secretary of state, to enter into negotiations with Panama to reacquire the canal, which connects the Pacific to the Atlantic through the Caribbean Sea and is crucial for intercontinental trade and commerce.

The measure would require the president, no later than 180 days after the bill becomes law, to send a report to Congress “detailing the progress of negotiations ... potential challenges, and anticipated outcomes.”

On Jan. 7, Trump said that he does not want the canal to be in “the wrong hands,” warning of possible Chinese control.

“The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift. It should have never been made,” Trump said during a Jan. 7 news conference.

China has denied having any control over the trade route, where it has built up significant influence. Panama has said that the canal will stay in Panama’s hands.

“The only hands operating the canal are Panamanian and that is how it is going to stay,” said the country’s foreign minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, who called his nation’s control of the canal “non-negotiable.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) brushed off Trump’s efforts for the United States to reclaim control of the Panama Canal, along with his calls for the United States to acquire Greenland and rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Trump has not ruled out taking Greenland and the Panama Canal by economic or military force.

“House Democrats believe that we are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico, or seize the Panama Canal by force,” Jeffries told reporters at his weekly press conference on Jan. 8.

“Dusty who?” he added of the representative elected by South Dakotans.

Trump has also called for the United States to absorb Canada through economic, not military, means.