US warships and commercial vessels should not be charged for passing crucial waterways, the president claims
President Donald Trump has claimed that neither the Panama nor Suez Canal would “exist” without the United States, demanding that American commercial and military vessels be allowed to pass through the crucial waterways totally free of charge.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to “take back” control of the Panama Canal, using economic or military means if necessary. On Saturday, the US president’s desire to protect American “national security” interests from Chinese competition extended to another strategic waterway – Egypt’s Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
“American ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those canals would not exist without the United States of America,” the president said in a Truth Social post.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was already instructed “to immediately take care of, and memorialize [sic], this situation,” Trump added.
Trump did not elaborate on how exactly Washington ensured the existence of the Suez Canal, which was conceived, financed and built without US involvement in the 1850s. It operated under French, British, and later Egyptian control, all without American construction or funding. The US, however, led an international mine-clearing effort in the waterway following the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel in 1973.
The construction of the Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was indeed carried out by the US in the early 20th century after an initial French project stalled. The canal was transferred to Panamanian control in 1999 under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which stipulated that it would remain neutral and open to all nations.
Trump and US officials have argued that China’s economic activities – including infrastructure projects and port operations – may violate the 1977 Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty, which grants the US the right to “defend” the waterway.
Panamanian officials have previously rejected Trump’s assertions and threats, while the Panama Canal Authority maintains that the canal is operated solely by Panamanians, with no evidence supporting claims of Chinese control. President Jose Raul Mulino has stated that the canal is part of Panama’s “inalienable patrimony” and stressed that the country maintains full control over its operations.
However, after Rubio personally delivered Trump’s ultimatum to Panama in February, Mulino made a concession to Washington by refusing to renew the country’s 2017 agreements with China under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that multiple US Navy vessels, Coast Guard assets, and aircraft have been deployed in and around Panama as part of “bold first steps to revive our defense and security ties between our countries.”