Trump shifts U.S. strategic focus

December 23, 2024 - President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal could presage a shift away from a rules-based neo-liberal international order into a more robustly assertive foreign policy.

Related Graphics

View More

A look back at 235 years of U.S. presidents

Democrats race to back Kamala Harris as Biden bows out

President Biden is off to record start

Symbols of hate -- U.S. far-right extremist groups

Trump to take the nuclear football with him on his final day

Security for Biden inauguration ramped up

Ultra-tight security for Biden inauguration

Biden’s White House takes shape

Biden inauguration ceremony line-up

Profile of Joe Biden

Who are Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks?

Jill Biden reshapes role of First Lady

Fraught politics facing Biden’s foreign policy

Joe Biden announces media and economics teams

President-elect Joe Biden names national security team

Deadlines on road to Biden’s inauguration

Biden brings back presidential pets

A look back at 230 years of U.S. presidents

Trump inauguration flags

Presidents iGraphic (1)

Trump has accused Panama of charging exorbitant rates to use the passage and warned against Chinese control over the canal, saying he would not let it fall into “the wrong hands”. Ports at both ends of the canal are managed by a subsidiary of Hong-Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings and fears have been raised that in the event of a conflict with Beijing, access to U.S. military and civilian shipping could be restricted.

The U.S. largely built the canal and took control of the Panama Canal Zone in after backing Panamanian independence from Colombia in 1903. The U.S. ceded control back to Panama in 1999. It was opened in 1914 and is critical to U.S. imports and exports, handling about 2.5% of global maritime trade.

After offering to buy the autonomous territory of Greenland from Denmark in 2019 - a move that was rebuffed by Danish authorities before any discussions took place - Trump has also said recently that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for U.S. security.