Trump vows to retake Panama Canal in inauguration speech
'China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back'
US President Donald Trump set forth his policies, both domestically and abroad, in his inaugural speech in the Capitol on Monday, which includes demands that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States and that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.
"American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy," Trump said. "And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back."
"I must comprehensively reject the words of President Donald Trump," Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said. "The canal is and will remain Panama's."