Donald Trump has made waves since the election with his bold foreign policy agenda.
He’s ruffled some feathers abroad.
And a foreign leader made one scary threat to Donald Trump that he’s going to live to regret.
Donald Trump sends a message to Panama over the canal
President-elect Donald Trump caused a stir when he announced that the United States was getting ripped off by the fees charged to American ships to use the Panama Canal.
He warned Panama that if things didn’t change he would ask for the return of the American-built canal when he took office.
“We will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly, and without question,” Trump said.
Concerns have also grown about Panama’s increasingly cozy relationship with China.
Chinese companies operate ports at both ends of the Panama Canal.
Panama has developed a closer relationship with China since 2017 when the country broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognized the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) in Beijing as the rightful government of China.
It became the first country in Latin America to make a deal with China to join the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Belt and Road Initiative allows China to gain influence in countries by building infrastructure projects.
Panama’s President threatens to go the United Nations over Trump
Panama President Jose Mulino reportedly threatened in private to take Trump to the United Nations Security Council if the threats against his country continued.
Former Panamanian President Ernesto Balladares claimed that Mulino would ultimately wait until Trump took office before deciding on a course of action.
“He said he will take more actions after January 20 . . . if President-elect Trump insists on the issue,” Balladares said.
Mulino’s remarks came during a meeting of Latin American leaders at Panama’s presidential palace.
“Like everybody else in this country he’s surprised,” Balladares said of Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal.
The United States returned control of the canal to Panama under President Jimmy Carter.
Trump refused to rule out the use of military or economic force with the Panama Canal and Greenland during a press conference.
“I’m not gonna commit to that. No. It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump said.
“I can’t assure you — you’re talking about Panama and Greenland — no, I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump added. “But I can say this: We need them for economic security.”
Trump noted that the Panama Canal treaty didn’t turn over control to China.
“Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country,” Trump explained. “It’s being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama, we didn’t give it to China.”
Mulino vowed to not budget on the Panama Canal to Trump.
“As president, I want to clearly state that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining zone is Panama’s and will remain so,” Mulino said.
It remains to be seen what Mulino’s endgame would be if he went to the United Nations Security Council over Trump.
The United States is a permanent member of the Security Council and can veto any decision by it with a single vote.
