Panama has firmly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent statement that the United States would be "taking back" control of the Panama Canal, emphasizing that the strategic waterway remains under Panamanian authority.
In a statement on social media Monday, January 20, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino dismissed Trump’s remarks, reiterating the country’s sovereignty over the canal.
“I must comprehensively reject the words of President Donald Trump,” Mulino declared. “The canal is and will remain Panama’s,” he added, refuting Trump’s assertion that China is operating the canal. There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes,” Mulino stressed.
The Panama Canal, a critical interoceanic passage, was constructed by the United States and officially opened in 1914. It was transferred to Panama on December 31, 1999, under the terms of agreements signed in the 1970s by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos.