President Donald Trump made a bold statement to reporters on Sunday, warning that the United States is prepared to reclaim control of the Panama Canal, or else “something very powerful is going to happen.”
Trump, speaking after disembarking from Air Force One at Joint Andrews Airbase, reaffirmed his stance that the U.S. must regain control of the strategic waterway. He claimed the canal was effectively under China’s control and being used against American interests.
The comments came shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Panama over the weekend. During his trip, Rubio conveyed to Panamanian leaders that they needed to curb China’s growing influence over the canal, or face serious repercussions from the U.S. Trump echoed this sentiment, saying that if the U.S. is not restored its control over the canal, “something very powerful is going to happen.”
Trump has previously suggested that the U.S. could resort to both economic and military pressure to force Panama to relinquish control.
“Secretary of State Rubio is in Panama — Panama right now. And we’re talking about the Panama Canal. What they’ve done is terrible. They violated the agreement. They are not allowed to violate the agreement,” Trump said. “China is running the Panama Canal. That was not given to China. That was given to Panama, foolishly. But they violated the agreement. And we’re going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen.”
Watch the clip below:
Trump on the Panama Canal: "We're gonna take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 2, 2025 at 6:23 PM
