Severity 4 — Severe🌐 foreign policy20 January 2025

Panama Canal — Military Options Drawn Up to "Take Back" a Sovereign Waterway

Trump repeatedly threatened to retake the Panama Canal — sovereign Panamanian territory since a 1999 treaty handover — declaring in his inauguration speech that the US was "taking it back," and refusing to rule out military force. By March 2025 the Pentagon was reported to be drawing up actual military options, including working with Panama's military or seizing the canal outright. Panama rejected the claim that the canal was ever "given back" in any conditional sense and said it would remain under Panamanian control.

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Donald Trump — Republican Party

In power 2025–present

Source

NBC News — Trump White House Asked Military to Develop Options for the Panama Canal

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