PANAMA CITY/COPENHAGEN: Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday dismissed recent threats made by US President-elect Donald Trump to retake control of the Panama Canal over complaints of "unfair” treatment of American ships. "Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama,” Mulino said in a video posted to X.
Meanwhile, Greenland on Monday stressed that it was not for sale, after Trump again suggested he wanted the United States to take control of the strategic island that holds major mineral and oil reserves. Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede quickly sought to quash any chance of a deal. "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Mute Egede said in a statement.
Mulino’s public comments, though never mentioning Trump by name, come a day after the president-elect complained about the canal on his Truth Social platform. "Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” he said.
Trump also complained of China’s growing influence around the canal, a worrying trend for American interests as US businesses depend on the channel to move goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. "It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else,” Trump said. "We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!”
"Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group. "Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.” After the event, he posted an image on Truth Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water, with the comment: "Welcome to the United States Canal!”
The Panama Canal, which was completed by the United States in 1914, was returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control in 1999. Trump said that 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.” Mulino rejected Trump’s claims in his video message, though he also said he hopes to have "a good and respectful relationship” with the incoming administration.
"The canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union, nor the United States or any other power,” Mulino said. "As a Panamanian, I reject any manifestation that misrepresents this reality.” Later on Sunday, Trump responded to Mulino’s dismissal, writing on Truth Social: "We’ll see about that!” China does not control or administer the canal, but a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has long managed two ports located on the canal’s Caribbean and Pacific entrances.
Trump offered to buy the vast Danish territory of Greenland during his first term in office — receiving an abrupt refusal — and he revived his push over the weekend when naming his ambassador to Copenhagen for his incoming administration. Greenland, the world’s largest island, is an autonomous Danish territory with its own parliament, about 55,000 inhabitants, and a small pro-independence movement. It relies on Denmark to fund more than half of its public budget.
Trump on Sunday posted that "for purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” As president, he canceled a state trip to Denmark in 2019 after the country said Greenland was not for sale. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the time labelled Trump’s offer as "absurd”, leading him to term her dismissal of the idea as "nasty”. Frederiksen remains in her role of Danish prime minister. Under President Joe Biden, the United States said it did not want a purchase but instead sought to strengthen ties.
The Danish government must state in clear terms that control over Greenland is not up for discussion or negotiation, member of parliament Rasmus Jarlov of the opposition Conservative Party said on social media platform X. "To the extent that US activities aim to take control of Danish territory, it must be prohibited and countered. Then they can’t be there at all,” said Jarlov, who heads parliament’s defense committee.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. But development has been slow, leaving its economy reliant on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark. With its Pituffik air base, Greenland is strategically important for the US military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
Since 2009 Greenland has held the right to declare independence from Denmark. The island of some 56,000 inhabitants, which relies on significant budget transfers from Copenhagen each year, has so far refrained from doing so. This is not the first time Trump has openly considered territorial expansion. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly mused about turning Canada into a US state, though it is unclear how serious he is about the matter. – Agencies