Panama president rules out talks with Trump over canal threat
By AFP
December 26, 2024
A cargo ship passes through the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI
Juan Jose Rodriguez
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out negotiations with US President-elect Donald Trump over control of the Panama Canal, denying that China was interfering in its operation.
Mulino also rejected the possibility of reducing tolls for US vessels in response to Trump’s threat to demand control of the vital waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be returned to Washington.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Mulino told a press conference.
“The canal is Panamanian and belongs to Panamanians. There’s no possibility of opening any kind of conversation around this reality, which has cost the country blood, sweat and tears,” he added.
The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.
Trump on Saturday slammed what he called “ridiculous” fees for US ships passing through the canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.
“It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!”
If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.
– ‘No Chinese interference’ –
An estimated five percent of global maritime traffic passes through the Panama Canal, which allows ships traveling between Asia and the US East Coast to avoid the long, hazardous route around the southern tip of South America.
The United States is its main user, accounting for 74 percent of cargo, followed by China with 21 percent.
Mulino said the canal’s usage fees were “not set at the whim of the president or the administrator” of the interoceanic waterway, but under a long-established “public and open process.”
“There is absolutely no Chinese interference or participation in anything to do with the Panama Canal,” Mulino said.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social alleged, without evidence, that Chinese soldiers were “lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal.”
Mulino denied that allegation, too.
“There are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for the love of God,” he added.
Panama established diplomatic relations with China in 2017, after breaking off ties with Taiwan — a decision criticized by Trump’s first administration.
On Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Panama City chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and burning an image of the incoming US president.
By AFP
December 26, 2024
A cargo ship passes through the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI
Juan Jose Rodriguez
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out negotiations with US President-elect Donald Trump over control of the Panama Canal, denying that China was interfering in its operation.
Mulino also rejected the possibility of reducing tolls for US vessels in response to Trump’s threat to demand control of the vital waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be returned to Washington.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Mulino told a press conference.
“The canal is Panamanian and belongs to Panamanians. There’s no possibility of opening any kind of conversation around this reality, which has cost the country blood, sweat and tears,” he added.
The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.
Trump on Saturday slammed what he called “ridiculous” fees for US ships passing through the canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.
“It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!”
If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.
– ‘No Chinese interference’ –
An estimated five percent of global maritime traffic passes through the Panama Canal, which allows ships traveling between Asia and the US East Coast to avoid the long, hazardous route around the southern tip of South America.
The United States is its main user, accounting for 74 percent of cargo, followed by China with 21 percent.
Mulino said the canal’s usage fees were “not set at the whim of the president or the administrator” of the interoceanic waterway, but under a long-established “public and open process.”
“There is absolutely no Chinese interference or participation in anything to do with the Panama Canal,” Mulino said.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social alleged, without evidence, that Chinese soldiers were “lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal.”
Mulino denied that allegation, too.
“There are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for the love of God,” he added.
Panama established diplomatic relations with China in 2017, after breaking off ties with Taiwan — a decision criticized by Trump’s first administration.
On Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Panama City chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and burning an image of the incoming US president.
'That is very different': CNN host fact-checks conservative's Panama claims
Travis Gettys
December 26, 2024
RAW STORY
CNN
CNN's Sara Sidner fact-checked a conservative panelist's claims about China and the Panama Canal.
Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the canal, claiming that China had too much influence over the critical waterway, and conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton argued that Trump was right.
"I don't think it's a sideshow," Singelton said. "There are five principal zone ports in Panama [and] China controls two, the United States doesn't control any. We controlled the Panama Canal completely up until '77. We entered into a mutual agreement with the Panamanian government in 1999, we handed over complete control to them and fast forward to 2023, 2024. Now China controls two of those zones. Trump is mad about it and, in my opinion, Sara, he is right to be mad. The Chinese government, they're not playing checkers here, they're playing 4-D chess to dominate the global stage, and, in my opinion, they're moving in what I would argue is an area and a pace that should concern U.S. leaders, and this idea of the U.S. trying to at least somewhat usurp China's complete dominance in the region isn't necessarily new."
"Members of Congress have been concerned about this," he added. "In the past, there have just been debates about what is the right course of action to sort of minimize China's growing influence in the Panama Canal, and I think it's important for Trump to really put a spotlight on this."
Sidner interjected to set Singleton straight, saying the Chinese government did not have direct control over any Panamanian ports.
"We should talk about the fact that it is a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company [CK Hutchison Holdings] that is in control of, or not in control of, that is administering a couple of ports, but there is an autonomous government agency that controls the canal," Sidner said. "So it doesn't mean that China is in full control."
Singleton conceded that she was correct on the administration of those ports, but he said Trump was right to raise the issue.
"You're right, Sara, to point out that it is a Hong Kong-based company that runs these two ports," he said. "But what if they have one company from China that manages one port and a U.S.-based company that manages another port? I don't think that's necessarily a bad argument for the president-elect to make. It's a very pivotal port for U.S. trade, and so I think, again, to pinpoint this and say, wait a minute, this appears to be unbalanced – I don't think he's necessarily wrong in that regard."
Sidner then lectured her guest and asked why Trump had made public threats before even returning to office instead of engaging in diplomacy.
"He's saying he's going to take back the Panama Canal," Sidner said. "That is very different than why not have these negotiations with the country, with the president, who he has completely pissed off, for lack of a better word, with just throwing this out there that he's going to take over. I mean, it's one of those things that you wonder is, was there not a negotiation that could have happened when he is in the seat of the presidency?"
Watch below or click here-
Travis Gettys
December 26, 2024
RAW STORY
CNN
CNN's Sara Sidner fact-checked a conservative panelist's claims about China and the Panama Canal.
Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the canal, claiming that China had too much influence over the critical waterway, and conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton argued that Trump was right.
"I don't think it's a sideshow," Singelton said. "There are five principal zone ports in Panama [and] China controls two, the United States doesn't control any. We controlled the Panama Canal completely up until '77. We entered into a mutual agreement with the Panamanian government in 1999, we handed over complete control to them and fast forward to 2023, 2024. Now China controls two of those zones. Trump is mad about it and, in my opinion, Sara, he is right to be mad. The Chinese government, they're not playing checkers here, they're playing 4-D chess to dominate the global stage, and, in my opinion, they're moving in what I would argue is an area and a pace that should concern U.S. leaders, and this idea of the U.S. trying to at least somewhat usurp China's complete dominance in the region isn't necessarily new."
"Members of Congress have been concerned about this," he added. "In the past, there have just been debates about what is the right course of action to sort of minimize China's growing influence in the Panama Canal, and I think it's important for Trump to really put a spotlight on this."
Sidner interjected to set Singleton straight, saying the Chinese government did not have direct control over any Panamanian ports.
"We should talk about the fact that it is a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company [CK Hutchison Holdings] that is in control of, or not in control of, that is administering a couple of ports, but there is an autonomous government agency that controls the canal," Sidner said. "So it doesn't mean that China is in full control."
Singleton conceded that she was correct on the administration of those ports, but he said Trump was right to raise the issue.
"You're right, Sara, to point out that it is a Hong Kong-based company that runs these two ports," he said. "But what if they have one company from China that manages one port and a U.S.-based company that manages another port? I don't think that's necessarily a bad argument for the president-elect to make. It's a very pivotal port for U.S. trade, and so I think, again, to pinpoint this and say, wait a minute, this appears to be unbalanced – I don't think he's necessarily wrong in that regard."
Sidner then lectured her guest and asked why Trump had made public threats before even returning to office instead of engaging in diplomacy.
"He's saying he's going to take back the Panama Canal," Sidner said. "That is very different than why not have these negotiations with the country, with the president, who he has completely pissed off, for lack of a better word, with just throwing this out there that he's going to take over. I mean, it's one of those things that you wonder is, was there not a negotiation that could have happened when he is in the seat of the presidency?"
Watch below or click here-
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Fox News pundit slams Trump buying Greenland as 'ramblings' for 'media attention'
Fox News pundit slams Trump buying Greenland as 'ramblings' for 'media attention'
David Edwards
December 26, 2024
December 26, 2024
RAW STORY
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, U.S. October 11, 2024. REUTERS/Fred Greaves
Fox News pundit Jonathan Kott argued that President-elect Donald Trump's push to take over Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal were just "ramblings" of "things he's seen online."
During a Thursday panel on Fox News, Kott responded to an anonymous lobbyist who claimed Democrats were ready for Biden to leave office.
"I don't think on the Democratic side there's anybody excited for the Biden presidency to be over and the Trump presidency to start," Kott, a Democratic strategist, insisted. "I'd also point out that the void that Trump is filling is just the media void. He and Biden have very different styles. Biden likes to work behind the scenes very quietly."
Kott also addressed Trump's recent expansionist musings.
"I'd also point out Donald Trump has spent the last few days talking about buying Greenland and invading Panama and making Canada a 51st state," the Fox News guest said. "I don't think those are actually like powerful things that a president-elect is doing. That's just like ramblings of things he's seen online or things he wants to do at three in the morning."
"So the void he's filling is just the media attention that we need because we live in a 24-hour news cycle that we always need something," he added. "No Democrat is excited to see the Biden presidency end."
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, U.S. October 11, 2024. REUTERS/Fred Greaves
Fox News pundit Jonathan Kott argued that President-elect Donald Trump's push to take over Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal were just "ramblings" of "things he's seen online."
During a Thursday panel on Fox News, Kott responded to an anonymous lobbyist who claimed Democrats were ready for Biden to leave office.
"I don't think on the Democratic side there's anybody excited for the Biden presidency to be over and the Trump presidency to start," Kott, a Democratic strategist, insisted. "I'd also point out that the void that Trump is filling is just the media void. He and Biden have very different styles. Biden likes to work behind the scenes very quietly."
Kott also addressed Trump's recent expansionist musings.
"I'd also point out Donald Trump has spent the last few days talking about buying Greenland and invading Panama and making Canada a 51st state," the Fox News guest said. "I don't think those are actually like powerful things that a president-elect is doing. That's just like ramblings of things he's seen online or things he wants to do at three in the morning."
"So the void he's filling is just the media attention that we need because we live in a 24-hour news cycle that we always need something," he added. "No Democrat is excited to see the Biden presidency end."
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