President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to retake the Panama Canal in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
Trump accused Panama of “ripping off” American vessels by charging “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Without it, ships would be forced to sail a much farther distance around South America’s rocky Cape Horn.
Trump was referring to the 1977 treaty over the canal’s status, which transferred control of the canal from the U.S. to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
It was hailed as one of President Jimmy Carter’s greatest accomplishments, but Trump slammed the 39th president for “foolishly giving it away for one dollar.”
“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way,” Trump vented. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.”
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added.
Fees to pass through the canal range from as little as $0.50 to $300,000, depending on the size of the vessels.
It wasn’t immediately known what prompted Trump’s outburst about the canal.
America uses the canal more than any other country, followed by China and then Japan, figures show.
At the beginning of this year, drought forced authorities to slash ship crossings in the canal by 36 percent, impacting global trade routes.
