Donald Trump says he might demand Panama hand over canal

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the U.S. ally hand it over. In an evening post on Truth Social , Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China. The post was an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines 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. The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the U.S. government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration. "The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. Artificial Intelligence(AI) Collaborative AI Foundations: Working Smarter with Machines By - Prince Patni, Software Developer (BI, Data Science) View Program Marketing Future of Marketing & Branding Masterclass By - Dr. David Aaker, Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, Author | Speaker | Thought Leader | Branding Consultant View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By - Neil Patel, Co-Founder and Author at Neil Patel Digital Digital Marketing Guru View Program Legal Complete Guide to AI Governance and Compliance By - Prince Patni, Software Developer (BI, Data Science) View Program Strategy Succession Planning Masterclass By - Nigel Penny, Global Strategy Advisor: NSP Strategy Facilitation Ltd. 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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." The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )