On Saturday, President Trump stated that US warships and commercial vessels should be allowed to transit the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal free of charge.
President Trump and the First Lady attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday and returned to the United States on Saturday afternoon Eastern Time.
On the “Truth Social” media platform, the President posted, “US warships and commercial vessels should be allowed to transit the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal for free! Without US support, these canals would not exist.”
He then indicated that he had instructed Secretary of State Pompeo to address the matter immediately.
The Panama Canal crosses the narrowest point of the isthmus between North and South America, allowing ships to navigate between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans more quickly, and it is also a strategically important waterway.
More than 40% of the US container shipping volume (worth about $270 billion) passes through the Panama Canal each year, accounting for over two-thirds of the vessels passing through this world’s second busiest transoceanic waterway each day. The canal was built by the US over a century ago and transferred to Panama in 1999. Trump stated that the deal was “very bad” and that the US military was unreasonably charged for using the canal.
Trump has long warned that the Chinese Communist Party has control over the Panama Canal and claimed that there are Chinese military personnel stationed there. Chinese investments in the area have indeed raised US concerns about espionage activities.
A subsidiary of Cheung Kong Holdings, controlled by a family business of the Yangtze and Keswick, controls two ports in the Panama Canal. There are a total of five ports in the canal, through which approximately 6% of global maritime trade passes. Panama originally granted the concession to Cheung Kong in 1998 and renewed it for another 25 years in 2021.
Since taking office, Trump has vowed to take back this canal, which was given to Panama during the Carter administration, as he believes that US military control over the Panama Canal is crucial and also needs to weaken Beijing’s influence in the canal, especially in ensuring unimpeded access for US military.
With continuous pressure from the Trump administration, Cheung Kong announced on March 4 that it would sell 43 ports in 23 countries to a consortium led by BlackRock, but would retain port rights in mainland China and Hong Kong. However, the Chinese Communist Party has been trying to obstruct this transaction.
Egypt’s Suez Canal is an important waterway connecting Europe and Asia. Before the Houthi armed group in Yemen attacked ships passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, approximately 10% of global maritime trade passed through the Suez Canal.
After the Gaza War between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, the Houthi armed group launched more than a hundred attacks on shipping vessels starting in November of the same year, to pressure Israel to stop striking Hamas.
To prevent attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi armed group in Yemen, the US military has been conducting continuous airstrikes against the group since March 15. US aircraft carriers and warships have been patrolling the region as well.