“Rip-Off Will Stop” Trump Wants To Regain Control Of Panama Canal Amid China’s Growing Influence – News18

President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands,” warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage.After the event, he posted an image on Truth Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water, with the comment: “Welcome to the United States Canal!””Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group. “Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.”Trump’s comments were an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. They also underlined an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.”It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions,” Trump said of the canal, which was once owned by the United States but was handed over to Panama decades ago. n18oc_world n18oc_crux