United States President Donald Trump stated this Wednesday that China "is trying" to take control of the Panama Canal, and warned that his Administration will not allow that situation to occur.
After pointing out that Washington "gave away" the management of this strategic 82-kilometer infrastructure that crosses the Panamanian isthmus—uniting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean—and through which about six percent of world trade passes, the US leader stressed that he will not allow the Asian giant to take control of it.
"Now China is trying to take control of the Panama Canal. We are not going to let that happen," the president reiterated from North Dakota, raising his tone against Beijing.
In the same speech, and while claiming the canal as "the most expensive thing" the United States has "ever built"—although the project was initiated by France and later completed by the North American country—Trump recalled that, after its administration was transferred to Panama in 1999, "the first thing they did was quadruple the tolls for ships," and then increase them "twice more."
"All they did was make huge amounts of money for years and years," emphasized the Republican leader during his televised speech.
Back in January 2025, Trump had raised the possibility of using the US Armed Forces to guarantee control over the canal. Months later, the Chinese Embassy in Panama urged the United States to "reflect deeply" on its "intimidating and abusive attitude and its acts of dispossession against Panama and other developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean."
Next, the Asian diplomatic delegation asked Washington to "stop its slanders against China" and "instead of launching reality-defying slanders and sowing discord everywhere, concentrate its efforts on bringing benefits to the local people."
In the same vein, the Embassy recalled that, while the United States "repeats ad nauseam the 'Chinese interference and influence' over this passage," it was in 1989 when "the canal was cut, precisely, by the US invasion."
"China has never participated in the management or operation of the Panama Canal, nor has it interfered in the canal's affairs," the Chinese representation stressed at the time in a statement, adding that "the Chinese side has always respected Panama's sovereignty over the canal (which) it recognizes as a permanent neutral international transit waterway."