President-elect Donald Trump fired back on Sunday after Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino released a scathing statement rejecting Trump’s demand that the country stop ripping off U.S. shipping companies and the U.S. Navy.
Trump made the demands after communist China made significant investments to exert influence and control on the Panama Canal and surrounding infrastructure.
Trump fired back at a portion of the Panamanian president’s remarks where Mulino said, “Every square meter of the Panama Canal … belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama.”
“We’ll see about that!” Trump posted.
The United States paid for, built the Panama Canal, and owned the Panama Canal all the way until failed President Jimmy Carter gave it away to Panama.
Trump at his best. pic.twitter.com/cv01erouyE
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 22, 2024
Trump also posted an AI-generated image on social media showing an American flag flying off the back of a ship as it traveled through the Panama Canal.
“Welcome to the United States Canal!” Trump wrote.
BREAKING: Donald Trump posts Grok image claiming the Panama Canal for America, renaming it ‘The United States Canal’ pic.twitter.com/2iUOnscVdB
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 22, 2024
Trump’s posts come after Mulino signaled that his country would never relinquish control over the U.S.-built Panama Canal.
“As President, I want to express precisely that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to PANAMA, and will continue to be,” Mulino stated. “The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.”
He said that the canal brings “billions of dollars” to Panama’s economy per year.
“Rates are not a whim,” he said. “They are and will be established, publicly and in an open audience, considering market conditions, international competition, operating costs, and the maintenance and modernization needs of the interoceanic waterway.”
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He claimed that the country would never give up control of the canal, even though Panama does not have a military and would be facing the most powerful fighting force the world has ever seen: the U.S. military.
He said that he wanted a “good and respectful relationship” with the U.S. and believed that “issues such as illegal migration, drug trafficking, and organized crime must be a priority on our bilateral agenda.”
