OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
11:55 PM – Friday, March 14, 2025
According to reports, President Donald Trump has instructed the U.S. military to devise a range of strategies for retaking the Panama Canal, in an effort to dissuade communist China from continuing conducting operations in the region.
Advertisement
The United States Southern Command is in the works of leading the future endeavor, according to NBC News, reportedly involving the U.S. military retaking the Panama Canal, if need be, — though preferably collaborating with Panamanian security forces.
According to officials, the efforts of the U.S. military is contingent on Panama’s compliance with American requests. The U.S. military will reportedly not become involved if Panamanian officials comply.
Commander of United States Southern Command, Admiral Alvin Holsey “presented draft strategies to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week,” the report stated.
According to officials, the United States regaining control is not impossible, but it would most likely only occur if Trump’s objective of regaining the canal, which the U.S. has funded and constructed, was met by an increased American military presence.
Ultimately, the Trump administration is looking to strengthen American military forces in Panama in order to reduce the ongoing Chinese influence in the region. He has often stated that it is not right for China to be taking advantage of the canal, being American made, as China is the United States’ greatest economic threat.
However, Panama and China deny that there is any foreign meddling in regard to the 50-mile canal, whose neutrality is “established” in Panama’s Constitution. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also been accused by Chinese authorities of employing “coercion” to compel Panamanian officials to obstruct Chinese initiatives.
“It was given away by the Carter administration for $1, but that agreement has been violated very severely,” Trump explained, during his address to Congress last week. “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
A segment of the report reads: “Privately, Trump has told his advisers that he sees a U.S. military presence in Panama and on the canal itself as critical to that effort, the U.S. officials said. Trump has also made it clear that he wants U.S. service members to be visible in the canal zone as a show of force.
Trump administration officials have also argued that China has too large of a presence near the canal. In the event of a conflict, Beijing could shut down the canal to American shipping — including military ships.
China is “playing the long game” with its economic development projects around the world, which it exploits to further its goals, according to a statement made last year before the House Armed Services Committee by Gen. Laura Richardson, who was the head of the United States Southern Command at the time.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] messages its investments as peaceful, but in fact, many serve as points of future multi-domain access for the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] and strategic naval chokepoints,” she said. “In Panama, PRC-controlled State-Owned Enterprises, SOEs, continue to bid on projects related to the Panama Canal — a global strategic chokepoint.”
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisements below
