US President Donald Trump has called on the Pentagon to provide military ideas and options that would ensure the United States gains full access to the Panama Canal. The revelation was made months after Trump threatened to take over the waterways, ensuing a diplomatic row with Panama. Two US officials who spoke to Reuters on Thursday revealed these manoeuvrings.
The Panama Canal is touted as the world’s most strategically important waterway. While Trump has often claimed he wants to ’take back’ the canal. However, he never offered specifics about how he would do so or if military action might be required. One US official who asked to remain anonymous told Reuters that the Trump administration asked the military to look at options to ensure “unfettered” access to the Panama Canal.
A second official said that the Pentagon has a wide range of potential options which would guarantee that the US has full access to the canal. One of the options includes a partnership with Panama’s military. It is pertinent to note that the Department of Defence last published a national defence strategy back in 2022.
The struggle over the Panama Canal
Ever since he came back to the White House, Trump has asserted that the US should “take back” the canal. Without providing evidence, he argued that China controls the waterway and could eventually use it to undermine American interests in the region. In his inaugural speech in January, Trump accused the Latin American nation of Panama of breaking a promise for the final transfer of the canal back in 1999.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/trump-orders-pentagon-to-lay-out-ideas-to-ensure-uss-unfettered-access-to-panam-canal-report-13871400.html.
