Turning over the Panama Canal, a process started in 1977 by President Carter, was foolish, President-elect Trump says. And unless there are changes, Trump posted, "we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question." At issue are the fees Panama charges US ships to pass through the canal, which he called exorbitant, Politico reports. Trump teed the issue up with two long posts Saturday night on Truth Social, then returned to it Sunday at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix.
"It was given to Panama and to the people of Panama, but it has provisions, you gotta treat us fairly and they haven't treated us fairly," Trump said in his speech, per the Hill. To keep the canal, he said, Panama must follow "the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving." When a member of the audience member hollered "take it back," Trump answered, "That's a good idea." Panama is a strong ally of the US.
At his first major rally since the election, Trump declared, "the Golden Age of America is upon us," adding that "there's a spirit that we have now that we didn't have just a short while ago." He made no mention in Phoenix of Republicans' struggle to avoid a government shutdown, per the AP. But he did address the role of billionaire Elon Musk, who was knee-deep in that lobbying. To suggestions that "President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon," the president-elect assured his supporters: "No, no. That's not happening. He's not gonna be president." (More President-elect Trump stories.)
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