Useful information
Prime News delivers timely, accurate news and insights on global events, politics, business, and technology
RNC Youth Advisory Council Co-Chair CJ Pearson discusses government spending in ‘The Evening Edit.’
President-elect Trump unleashed a tirade against Panama Canal Tolls Saturday, claiming high prices are ripping off the United States.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump complained at length about the tariffs charged to American ships passing through the Great Ditch. Panama Canal tolls can range from three to six figures, depending on the size of a ship and the amount of cargo it is carrying, with larger ships charged up to $500,000.
“The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL national asset for the United States, due to its fundamental role for the economy and national security of the United States,” Trump wrote in his post. “A secure Panama Canal is crucial to American commerce and the rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and dramatically reduces shipping times to American ports.”
The incoming president criticized former President Carter, who Trump said “foolishly gave him away for a dollar.” In 1977, Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty, which phased out U.S. control of the canal in 1999.
STEPHEN COLBERT CALLS ABC ‘STUPID’ FOR TRUMP DEAL
President-elect Trump ranted about the Panama Canal tolls in a Truth Social post on Saturday. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Carter also signed the Treaty of Neutrality, which guaranteed that tolls would be equal for all nations. Trump implied that the United States should receive preferential treatment in office.
“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and reckless manner,” argued the president-elect. “The tariffs that Panama charges are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that the United States has extended to Panama. This complete ‘rip-off’ of our country will stop immediately.”
Trump also floated the idea of demanding that ownership of the canal be returned to the United States if American ships are not treated fairly.
“(The Panama Canal) was not given for the benefit of others, but simply as a show of cooperation with us and Panama,” Trump concluded. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of donation are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in its entirety and without question.
TRUMP AND MUSK RESPONSE AFTER DEM LEADER BLAMES HOUSE GOP FOR BREAKING BIPARTISAN DEAL
A cargo ship and tugboat navigate through the Cocolí Locks on the Panama Canal in Panama on August 12, 2024. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“To the Officials of Panama, please orient yourself accordingly!”
Trump also noted that the canal was built at enormous cost to the United States, although he incorrectly claimed that 38,000 Americans died while building it. The National Institutes of Health estimates that the number of people who died while working during American construction of the canal was around 5,600.
It is unclear how many of those who died were Americans because a large portion of the workforce was recruited in the Caribbean. Trump may have included the approximately 22,000 workers who died while the French tried to build the canal in the 1880s.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In an aerial view, a ship prepares to pass through the Aqua Clara locks at the entrance to the Panama Canal on September 20, 2023, in Colón, Panama. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The Department of Government Efficiency’s X Account recently stated that the Panama Canal cost American taxpayers $15.7 billion. The United States government does not subsidize the channel. Boats that pass through it pay tolls.
