On Tuesday, President Donald Trump made the announcement that the United States “will be reclaiming” the Panama Canal, going on to say that our country would be in control of the extremely important shipping lane. Trump is getting things done with a quickness in his second term.
It’s truly a sight to behold.
While delivering his address to a joint session of Congress, the president revealed that financial asset manager BlackRock had come to a deal to buy two major ports at the Panama Canal. Trump has been pushing for our nation to be back in control of the canal because Panama was taking advantage of the U.S.
“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” he stated. “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal.”
TRUMP: "The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others." pic.twitter.com/2vHeVuagis
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 5, 2025
“On Tuesday, BlackRock announced that it would take control of two ports from the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings in a $23 billion deal that also includes 43 other ports around the world. The agreement will have to be approved by the government of Panama, which has made concessions to the Trump administration in recent weeks,” The Daily Wire reported.
“The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others. But others could use it. But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure,” Trump remarked during the address. “38,000 workers died building the Panama Canal. They died of malaria, they died of snake bites, and mosquitos, not a nice place to work. They paid them very highly to go there, knowing there was a 25% chance they would die.”
He then took a moment to completely torch the Carter administration for giving away control of the canal in 1977. This really was a boneheaded move on the part of former President Jimmy Carter. There’s a reason people consider him one of the worst presidents in our nation’s history.
“It was given away by the Carter administration for one dollar, but that agreement has been violated very severely,” Trump explained. “We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
Last month, Panama agreed to offer free passage to U.S. Navy vessels traveling through the canal after a meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino. Panama later announced it would not renew its participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” the article concluded.