https://sputnikglobe.com/20241226/what-makes-panama-canal-important-and-are-trumps-threats-to-seize-it-realistic-1121278667.html
What Makes Panama Canal Important and Could Trump Really Seize It?
What Makes Panama Canal Important and Could Trump Really Seize It?
Sputnik International
The US president in waiting has set his sights on the Panama Canal, triggering a backlash from Panama City, and leaving observers scrambling to study whether Washington could actually seize the strategic waterway. What makes the canal important, and could Trump possibly be serious? Sputnik asked a veteran geopolitical expert.
2024-12-26T18:45+0000
2024-12-26T18:45+0000
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President-elect Donald Trump proved he’s still a master troll this week with a series of viral social media posts talking about a US desire to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland and turn Canada into the 51st state.“We’ll see about that!” Trump retorted.What’s the Canal’s Importance?Could Trump Really Be Serious?Trump “was just making a joke” and there is no legal way for US to actually restore its control over the Panama Canal, veteran geopolitical affairs and trade policy expert Thomas Pauken II told Sputnik.Besides highlighting the “overreaction” to his gag by media and senior officials, Trump’s discussion of the canal is really designed to address the reported overcharging of US shippers, with his hardball threats aimed at seeing “those rates go down,” and addressing whether the US’s trade competitors, particularly China, are receiving any preferential treatment, Pauken said.The canal could become a hotspot for confrontation between China and the US, Pauken believes, but only “if Beijing and Washington choose to start and launch and spark trade wars” instead of sitting down and hammering out a “grand bargain” that both sides would find fair – like the Phase One Trade Agreement reached in late 2019.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20241226/trump-proposes-hockey-player-wayne-gretzky-to-run-for-canadian-prime-minister-1121271653.html
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is trump serious about taking over panama canal, can us take back panama canal, who built panama canal, how long is panama canal, how much did panama canal cost to build, what’s trump’s threat to seize panama canal really about
is trump serious about taking over panama canal, can us take back panama canal, who built panama canal, how long is panama canal, how much did panama canal cost to build, what’s trump’s threat to seize panama canal really about
The US president in waiting has set his sights on the Panama Canal, triggering a backlash from Panama City, and leaving observers scrambling to study whether Washington could actually seize the strategic waterway. What makes the canal important, and could Trump possibly be serious? Sputnik asked a veteran geopolitical expert.
Panama apparently didn’t get the ‘joke’, with President Jose Raul Mulino taking to social media to emphasize that “every square meter” of the canal “belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”
“We’ll see about that!” Trump retorted.
What’s the Canal’s Importance?
Could Trump Really Be Serious?
Trump “was just making a joke” and there is no legal way for US to actually restore its control over the Panama Canal, veteran geopolitical affairs and trade policy expert Thomas Pauken II told Sputnik.
Besides highlighting the “overreaction” to his gag by media and senior officials, Trump’s discussion of the canal is really designed to address the reported overcharging of US shippers, with his hardball threats aimed at seeing “those rates go down,” and addressing whether the US’s trade competitors, particularly China, are receiving any preferential treatment, Pauken said.
“It’s really a simple case of wanting to negotiate lower rates on shipping charges and then making a joke about how America may supposedly try to seize control of the Panama Control Canal and take charge of it. Of course, everybody who has any common sense, including people who are supposedly diplomats, media officials and even law experts, should know that Trump cannot take control of the Panama Canal if Panama refuses to allow that,” the observer stressed.
The canal could become a hotspot for confrontation between China and the US, Pauken believes, but only “if Beijing and Washington choose to start and launch and spark trade wars” instead of sitting down and hammering out a “grand bargain” that both sides would find fair – like the Phase One Trade Agreement reached in late 2019.
