By Gram Slattery
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging extreme charges to be used of the Panama Canal and mentioned that if Panama didn’t handle the canal in an appropriate vogue, he would demand the U.S. ally hand it over.
In a night put up on Reality Social, Trump additionally warned he wouldn’t let the canal fall into the “wrong hands,” and he appeared to warn of potential Chinese language affect on the passage, writing the canal shouldn’t be managed by China.
The put up was an exceedingly uncommon instance of a U.S. chief saying he may push a sovereign nation handy over territory. It additionally underlines an anticipated shift in U.S. diplomacy beneath Trump, who has not traditionally shied away from threatening allies and utilizing bellicose rhetoric when coping with counterparts.
The USA largely constructed the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for many years. However the U.S. authorities totally handed management of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a interval of joint administration.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump wrote in his Reality Social put up.
“It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.”
The Panamanian embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
