Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that American military and business ships should be able to travel through the Panama Canal and Suez Canal without paying any fees. “I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of and memorialize this situation,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Panama Canal is a waterway that cuts across the narrow land between North and South America, helping ships move faster between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. About 40% of U.S. container ships use the canal every year.

The United States built the canal in the early 1900s but handed it over to Panama in 1999.

Trump has often said he wants the U.S. to “take back” the canal. Before becoming president in January, he told reporters he might even consider using economic pressure or military force to do it.