Name: Trump Wants U.S. to ‘Take Back’ the Panama Canal. We Break Down His Strategy.
Uploaded: 2025-03-07T05:01:00Z
Duration: 8 min 29 s
Description: President Trump has threatened to “take back” the Panama Canal, saying Panama is violating a decades-old treaty that ceded U.S. control of the waterway. WSJ breaks down his strategy and the risks that come with it.

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President Trump has threatened to “take back” the Panama Canal, saying Panama is violating a decades-old treaty that ceded U.S. control of the waterway. WSJ breaks down his strategy and the risks that come with it. Photo Illustration: Alexandra Larkin

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250306/2ffaddfa-b36d-4d5b-8d47-2cce59005f2b/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump has threatened to “take back” the Panama Canal, saying Panama is violating a decades-old treaty that ceded U.S. control of the waterway. WSJ breaks down his strategy and the risks that come with it.

Trump Wants U.S. to ‘Take Back’ the Panama Canal. We Break Down His Strategy.

My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it.

Narrator: President Donald Trump is doubling down on his promise to take back the Panama.

We're taking it back. We're gonna take it back. He just said, take it back, and that's a good idea.

Narrator: But can he actually do that? His declaration comes more than two decades after the US handed full control of the Canal to Panama.

This would be akin to Panama trying to negotiate control over the Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty. Panama would never, in any scenario, other than, under threat of invasion, give up this asset,

Narrator: And he hasn't taken the possibility of a military invasion off the table.

I'm not gonna commit to that.

Narrator: Here's how he's threatening to take back the Canal, why the strategy wouldn't necessarily lead to a full takeover, and the risks that come with it. In a trip to Panama in early February, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said that, "Trump had made the preliminary determination that Panama was in violation of a treaty that it agreed to when it took over the Canal." An argument he staked the US' claim on.

Panama, as you know, has violated the agreement, it totally violated the agreement.

Narrator: The treaty requires the Canal to be permanently neutral, meaning it can't give preferential treatment to any country, for example, its tolls have to be just, reasonable, and equitable. One of Trump's key arguments for how Panama is violating the treaty is that.

It's being operated by China, China!

Narrator: Panamanian authorities insist that Panama is in full control of the Canal, but some of the concerns stems from significant investments by Chinese companies in the region, which critics say could have national security implications for the US. At the forefront of the conversation are ports at each end of the Canal that have been run by the Hong Kong operator, CK Hutchison, but in early March that changed.

Just today, a large American company, announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal.

Narrator: A consortium of investors led by BlackRock, agreed to buy a majority stake in the ports from Hutchison, a move that would bring them under American corporate ownership, but other projects have also sparked concerns for the US, like a 2018 contract, that Chinese companies won to build a new bridge over the canal. Some experts say, "It could pose risks."

A bridge cannot control a canal, but a bridge can be sabotaged to block a canal. A bridge can be used to plant scanners and sensors in the rebar and the concrete.

Narrator: John Feeley was the Ambassador to Panama under President Obama, and during Trump's first year in office, but he resigned over ideological differences with Trump. He raised alarms about China's involvement at the Canal during his term,. H says that, "While China doesn't necessarily pose an immediate threat to the Canal, in other places, China has been known to..."

Use their commercial expansion as a front for espionage, for theft of intellectual property, for information gathering, so I don't fully reject the president's concerns about the Chinese presence in Panama, I do reject the bellicose language in the manner, in which he has suggested the United States should address it.

Narrator: A spokesperson for Beijing's Embassy in Washington said, "China will always respect Panama's sovereignty over the Canal and recognize the Canal as a permanently neutral international waterway," and that, "The allegations that China uses facilities for espionage, are nothing but slander." The Embassy also alleged a large global surveillance operation by the US. Trump has also claimed that US ships are charged higher fees for using the Canal, which Panamanian authorities have denied. He also stakes the US' right to the Canal on another idea.

We built it, we're the ones that use it.

Narrator: But it deserves control, because of the Canal's history.

Reporter: The Panama Canal.

Narrator: From 1904 to 1914, the US funded and oversaw the Canal's construction, spending about 375 million on the project, the equivalent of more than 11 billion today. As part of the deal to build the Canal, the US also controlled the Canal Zone, and over decades, tension about that presence grew.

It was pointed to by all of the US adversaries in Latin America, as a sign of US bullying, US imperialism.

Reporter: In Panama, an incident over the display of rival flags by Panamanian and American students, set off days of bloody rioting.

The reason that the United States handed the Canal over to Panama, in large part, was because of fears that managing the Canal in a hostile environment might not be possible.

And I believe that this treaty can open up a new era of understanding and comprehension.

Narrator: The decision to transfer the Canal to Panama, was made by President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s.

That was a big mistake, giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake.

Jimmy Carter's decision was controversial then, and a lot of people, apparently, including the current President of the United States, still feel very strongly that that was a strategic error, and apparently, the current President of the United States thinks it's a reversible error.

Narrator: So, can an alleged violation of the Neutrality Treaty, actually allow the US to reclaim the Canal? Well, not on its own.

The treaty signed in 1977 gave Panama control over the Panama Canal, and didn't give any wiggle room for the United States to reassert control when it felt like it.

Narrator: But Trump is using it to justify US intervention there. The first move the US is making, is to negotiate with Canal authorities to address the concerns about China. the Panamanian authorities have already launched an audit of Hutchison and its operations.

Perhaps, instead of giving that contract to Hutchison, which was done in 2021, and renewed for 25 years, perhaps that could go to an American port operating company, or a European port operating company.

Narrator: Secretary Rubio said that, "If changes are not made, then the US would take measures to protect its rights under the treaty." For example, experts say, "The US could use a violation of the treaty to try to legally justify a Military invasion."

The treaties give the United States not only the right, but the obligation to defend the Canal, if it can really make the case that Panama's unable or unwilling to defend the strategic waterway.

Narrator: But Trump has also shown hesitancy increasing the US' Military presence overseas, and played down its potential use.

I don't think troops will be necessary in Panama.

Narrator: Following Rubio's visit, the Panamanian President announced that Panama would not be renewing its memorandum with Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, a long-term effort by China to invest in infrastructure around the world. Rubio praised the decision on X, calling it, "A great step forward for US-Panama relations." Outside of the treaty, US companies could invest in the Canal's infrastructure to take some of those opportunities away from China.

The United States has fallen down on the job, when it comes to promoting, and facilitating, and incentivizing our private sector to work collaboratively in Latin America on large infrastructure projects.

Narrator: BlackRock's deal for the ports, could help ease national security concerns, by increasing the US's stake in infrastructure at the Canal. But in terms of a full takeover of the Canal, Trump only really has one option, to buy it or negotiate its ownership.

I'm not talking about taking anything back, we're talking about a willing buyer, a willing seller.

Narrator: But Panama would have to agree to it, and Panamanian protests have made it clear that this would be an unlikely option.

For Panamanians, it is their essential, nationalistic touchstone, so no, not one of Panamanians is gonna support selling or trading the Canal back.

Narrator: Whichever route Trump takes, it stands to have a big impact on relations with Panama.

There is a legitimate concern about Chinese commercial expansion, not just in Panama, but all over Latin America, but if you're gonna huff and puff and blow the house down, you're not gonna have partners you can work with to address them.

Narrator: The Panama Canal Authority and Office of the Panamanian President did not respond to a request for comment.