On Dec. 21, 2024, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called for the return of the Panama Canal to the United States on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.
In one post, which had amassed more than 23,000 likes as of this writing, he told Panamanian officials the canal's ownership should be returned to the U.S. "without question" if it falls into the wrong hands, or if the Central American country fails to uphold the principles outlined when the U.S. handed control of the waterway to Panama:
The United States has a vested interest in the secure, efficient, and reliable operation of the Panama Canal, and that was always understood. We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands! It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. 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. To the Officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!
In another Truth Social post from the same day, he described the fees being charged by Panama as a "complete 'rip-off.'" He added:
When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave it away, for One Dollar, during his term in Office, it was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else. It was likewise not given for Panama to charge the United States, its Navy, and corporations, doing business within our Country, exorbitant prices and rates of passage. Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.
Despite repeated
(@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
The U.S. currently plays no part in the operations of the Panama Canal. However, the country has been intertwined with the project for over 100 years. The full story is significantly longer and more nuanced than Trump's posts on Truth Social suggest.
The History of the Canal
Before the construction of the Panama Canal, a ship traveling between the east and west coasts of the United States needed to travel all the way around South America, including braving the notoriously rough waters of Cape Horn, located at the southern tip of the continent. According to Britannica, a journey between New York and San Francisco before the canal's construction was about 13,000 nautical miles. It was only natural to look for a shortcut, and the
The first construction efforts began in
However, under the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the plans were resurrected. In 1902, Congress authorized the purchase of the French company's remaining assets and called for negotiation with Colombia over the canal. However, the negotiations quickly broke down in the Colombian government. At the same time, Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, who owned what remained of the canal company, joined a plot for Panamanian independence from Colombia.
On Nov. 3, 1903, the Panamanian rebels declared independence with support from the U.S., which recognized the nation just three days later. U.S. Secretary of State John Hay quickly signed a namesake treaty with Bunau-Varila, who had been appointed Panamanian ambassador. The Hay–Bunau-Varila treaty gave Americans the land to build the waterway and established the Panama Canal Zone, a 5-mile strip of land surrounding the canal on either side. The construction of the project took 11 years, and the canal opened for traffic in 1914 under full U.S. ownership.
For more than 60 years, the Panama Canal and its surroundings were owned and operated by the U.S. Local Panamanians who felt the treaty was unfair frequently protested and were able to renegotiate its terms multiple times.
But due to the United States' ownership of the canal, Panamanians continued demonstrating. In 1964, a student protest calling for the Panamanian flag to be flown alongside the U.S. flag at a high school within the Canal Zone (something that former President John F. Kennedy had permitted in 1962 according to the U.S. National Archives) led to three days of anti-American riots and the evacuation of the U.S. embassy.
Negotiations in the late 1960s broke down following the 1968 Panamanian coup d'état. During Nixon's presidency (between 1969 and 1974), Secretary of State Henry Kissinger slowly worked to build a framework treaty that was later built upon under U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
In 1977, Carter and Panamanian General Omar Torrijos negotiated a pair of treaties that gradually returned the waterway and the Canal Zone to Panamanian control over a 20-year period between 1979 and 1999 while also keeping the canal permanently neutral. The treaties faced opposition from conservative leaders in the U.S. like Strom Thurmond and Ronald Reagan, who viewed them as weakening the U.S. and making concessions to a "communist" government. However, the treaties passed through Congress, and the U.S. began to withdraw from the Canal Zone before giving full control of the landmark to Panama in 1999.
The neutrality treaty, however, is incredibly important in disproving Trump's comments. Under that treaty, the canal must remain permanently neutral for all nations, "both in time of peace and in time of war." As long as Panama abides by the treaty (and there was no evidence suggesting it was not), the
Trump's claim that the canal is actually operated by Chinese soldiers also has no weight. CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based company, owns three ports in Panama directly next to the mouths of the canal, but there was no evidence that the Chinese military had any role in operating the ports. Snopes has contacted CK Hutchison Holdings for comment and will update this story if we hear back.