‘President Trump is correct to think about repurchasing the Panama Canal,’ Johnson stated.
“President Trump is correct to think about repurchasing the Panama Canal,” Johnson advised The Epoch Occasions.
“China’s curiosity in and presence across the canal is a trigger for concern. America should mission power overseas—proudly owning and working the Panama Canal may be an necessary step in the direction of a stronger America and a safer globe.”
Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29, 2024, on the age of 100, handed sovereignty of the U.S.-built canal to Panama, in an settlement that took impact in 1999. Within the settlement, the US retained the precise to take navy motion to safe the canal from international aggression or if the canal is used to intervene with U.S. pursuits.
The brand new invoice, which The Epoch Occasions acquired a duplicate of, would enable the president, in coordination with the secretary of state, to enter into negotiations with Panama to reacquire the canal, which connects the Pacific to the Atlantic by the Caribbean Sea and is essential for intercontinental commerce and commerce.
The measure would require the president, no later than 180 days after the invoice turns into legislation, to ship a report back to Congress “detailing the progress of negotiations … potential challenges, and anticipated outcomes.”
On Jan. 7, Trump stated that he doesn’t need the canal to be in “the incorrect arms,” warning of attainable Chinese language management.
“The Panama Canal is significant to our nation. It’s being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, they usually’ve abused it. They’ve abused that present. It ought to have by no means been made,” Trump stated throughout a Jan. 7 information convention.
“Home Democrats imagine that we aren’t despatched to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico, or seize the Panama Canal by pressure,” Jeffries advised reporters at his weekly press convention on Jan. 8.
“Dusty who?” he added of the consultant elected by South Dakotans.
Trump has additionally referred to as for the US to soak up Canada by financial, not navy, means.
