Donald Trump has said that the U.S. could demand the return of the Panama Canal if the country fails to reduce the fees it charges American ships.

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to retake control of the Panama Canal, a key shipping passageway, prompting a sharp rebuttal from Panama's president. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social network,

China does not manage the canal. Trump’s complaints on that relate to Panama having renewed, in 2022, a longstanding arrangement with a Hong Kong-based company to manage the two ports of entry to the canal. (The renewed deal has also recently drawn some ire in Congress.)