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Treaties ratified by the Senate in 1978 established permanent neutrality, but some Republicans made this decision.
By Lisa Friedman
Information from West Palm Beach, Florida.
President-elect Donald J. Trump this week escalated his threats to retake control of the Panama Canal, falsely accusing Panama of allowing Chinese soldiers to control the vital shipping route and of overcharging American ships.
Mr. Trump has claimed Panama charges U.S. vessels “exorbitant prices” and warned that if they are not reduced after he takes office next month, he will demand that the United States be granted control of the canal “in full, quickly and without question.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump went on another tear. Announcing his choice for ambassador to the central American nation, Kevin Marino Cabrera, he accused the Panamanian government of “ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.” In a holiday screed on his social media site, Truth Social, Mr. Trump wished a merry Christmas to “the wonderful soldiers of China” who he inaccurately said were operating the canal, and griped that the United States “puts in Billions of Dollars” for canal maintenance “but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.’”
While it is unclear what prompted Mr. Trump’s recent obsession with the Panama Canal, some Republicans have long objected to turning it over to Panamanian control. When Ronald Reagan ran for president, he said the people of the United States were the canal’s “rightful owners” and brought audiences to their feet with the line: “We bought it; we paid for it; we built it.”
The United States, under the direction of President Jimmy Carter, signed two treaties that resulted in the formal transfer of the canal to Panamanians on December 31, 1999.
“There is a safe wing of the Republican Party that has been skeptical about the power move,” said Ryan C. Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
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