‘Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America,’ the president said.
President Donald Trump said on April 26 that U.S. military and commercial ships should be allowed to pass through the Panama and Suez canals “free of charge.”
“Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America,” Trump
wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “I’ve asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of, and memorialize, this situation!”
Stretching across the isthmus that connects North America and South America, the Panama Canal allows ships to quickly traverse between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and it carries roughly 40 percent of U.S. container traffic yearly.
American and British leaders and businessmen discussed plans for building the canal throughout the 1800s as a way to quickly and cheaply transport goods without having to travel around the southern tip of South America to get between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The United States
built the canal between 1903 and 1914.
President Jimmy Carter
negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, ratified by the Senate in 1978, that set in motion the relinquishing of control of the canal to Panama. That finally came to fruition in 1999.
Trump has previously said that he wants to “take back” the canal and bring it under U.S. control, suggesting that he would not rule out using economic or military force to regain the shipping passageway.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
said the United States was partnering with Panama to secure the Panama Canal while countering China’s “malign influence.”
“The Panama Canal is key terrain that must be secured by Panama, with America and not China,” Hegseth
said at a joint press conference with Panamanian Public Security Minister Frank Abrego.
The two nations signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral security matters in the region that will see an expansion of joint training exercises between the United States and Panama while improving interoperability between their militaries, the secretary said.
The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was
constructed in the late 1800s.
However, recent military conflicts and terrorist attacks in the area have disrupted shipping traffic moving through the Suez Canal, forcing some ships to reroute around Africa’s southern Cape of Good Hope instead of using the corridor.
The Houthi terrorist group, backed by Iran, has caused repeated shipping disruptions in the area,
according to the Atlantic Council, which estimates that the canal generated roughly $9.4 billion in revenue for Egypt in 2022–2023.
The Trump administration has approved multiple targeted strikes on the Houthis this year. Trump said the strikes would continue until the group no longer disrupts shipping between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
