Trump, in First Major Speech Since Election Victory, Threatens To Demand Return of Panama Canal If America Is Not Treated ‘Fairly’

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During his first major rally-style speech since his victory in November, President Trump spoke for more than an hour about a number of topics as supporters laughed with him, cheered for him, and booed his enemies. One of the largest applause lines of the Sunday address was his threat to take back the Panama Canal if the country does not reduce fees for American shippers.

Trump made the pledge as he talked about everything from his deportation operation to the economy to billionaire Elon Musk, who is seemingly going to have an outsized impact on federal spending and regulatory powers for as long as Trump wants. He pledged to “bring everybody together” for his second term, including Democrats, whom he believes will “come over” to work alongside him following their devastating electoral defeat.

In the middle of his speech, the president-elect spoke about the 1977 treaty that gifted the canal back to the Panamanian government, which now relies on the fees incurred by shippers to support, in part, its own economy. “It has provisions — you gotta treat us fairly, and they haven’t treated us fairly,” the president-elect said, referring to the 1977 treaty.

“If the principles — both moral and legal — of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without question,” Trump said.

“To the officials of Panama: please be guided accordingly,” he added.

Trump’s tear against Panama began on Saturday night, when he fired off a Truth Social post to say that the country and the canal bosses were treating American companies unfairly. It is unknown what prompted the missive on Trump’s part.

“When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave it away, for One Dollar, during his term in Office, it was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else. It was likewise not given for Panama to charge the United States, its Navy, and corporations, doing business within our Country, exorbitant prices and rates of passage. Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way,” Trump wrote on Saturday.

Panama’s leader, President Mulino, pushed back hard against Trump, saying in a statement Sunday that the canal would in no scenario be returned to America’s control. He also said the rates of traveling through the canal are not made “on a whim,” and would always be set by “market conditions.”

“I want to express precisely that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to PANAMA, and will continue to be,” Mr. Mulino said in a statement posted by his embassy in Washington. “The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.”

According to the Mid-America Freight Coalition, it currently costs between $300,000 and $400,000 to transport a ship through the canal. At its peak cost, ships were paying up to $1 million to go through the passageway. The fees incurred by ships traveling through the canal account for more than ten percent of Panama’s gross domestic product and about one-fifth of government revenues.

The highest fee ever incurred for passing through the canal was recorded in November 2023, when a drought impacting the Central American country led to a delay in travel through the canal. At the time, one Japanese company paid nearly $4 million to jump to the front of the line.

The canal zone was returned to Panamanian control following the ratification of the Carter-Torrijos Treaties, named for President Carter and the commander of Panama’s military forces and leader of the country at the time, General Omar Torrijos.

Carter’s decision to enter into a diplomatic negotiation with the Panamanians was roundly criticized by conservatives in America at the time, including the future President Reagan and Senator Thurmond, among others. “The canal is ours, we bought and we paid for it and we should keep it,” Thurmond said during the treaty negotiations.

During his speech on Sunday, Trump touched on several topics, but seemed particularly irked by recent criticisms from Democrats of Elon Musk. Since the world’s richest man ran a successful public campaign against Speaker Johnson’s spending bill last week, Democrats have been referring to him as “President Musk.”

“He is not gonna be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said during his speech. “And I’m safe. You know why? He wasn’t born in this country.”

Trump also issued a promise to end the “transgender lunacy,” including banning biological male athletes in women’s sports, barring transgender military members from serving, and ending funding for child hormone therapies and sex change operations.

“It will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump said, repeating a pledge he made on the campaign trail.

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