President Trump on Monday doubled down on his commitment to expanding U.S. territory and promised to take back the Panama Canal.
Reiterating his post-election campaign pledge, President Trump condemned the US decision to return the Canal Zone to the Republic of Panama and accused the Latin American linchpin of treating the US unfairly since then.
“President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and funded many of President Teddy Roosevelt's great accomplishments, including the Panama Canal, which was foolishly given to the nation of Panama,” Trump, 78, said in a speech. I cried inside. Inaugural speech at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.
Recalling how the United States poured money into the construction of the canal, which former President Jimmy Carter handed back to Panama in 1977, President Trump said, “We're going to give this stupid gift that should never have been given to us.'' was treated very badly by
“Panama's promises to us have been broken,” President Trump said.
“The purpose of our trade and the spirit of the treaty are completely violated. U.S. vessels are grossly overcharged and not treated fairly in any way shape or form,” he added, adding that China He accused the country of “running the Panama Canal.”
“We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we'll take it back.”
In his speech, President Trump also boasted about his plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
Panama's President José Raúl Mulino was quick to hit back at Trump over the canal, echoing the 47th president's past public musings.
“We must completely reject what President Donald Trump said about Panama and its canal in his inaugural address,” Mulino said in a statement, according to a translation.
“There is no nation in the world that would interfere with our administration. The canal was not a concession from anyone. It was the result of a generational struggle,” he said. “We will exercise our right to protect ourselves.”
President Trump did not elaborate on how he plans to take back the 51-mile waterway, but has so far refused to remove military force. The US previously invaded Panama in 1989 to overthrow Manuel Noriega.
Mulino, 65, and the Panamanian government have also repeatedly rejected President Trump's claims that China has undue influence over the canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
This is what the new commander-in-chief will look like. Complaints about facilities The same goes for the canal area operated by Hong Kong port operator Hutchison Whampoa and other Chinese infrastructure investments nearby.
A neutrality treaty has been signed between the United States and Panama to ensure that no discriminatory tolls are imposed on the canal.
President Trump has previously talked about the United States annexing Denmark-owned Greenland and making Canada its 51st state. Neither of these two goals came up in Monday's celebratory speech.
However, in his speech, President Trump spoke passionately about expanding the territory of the United States, currently the third largest country in the world by land area, in general.
“America will once again see itself as a nation of growth, a nation growing in wealth, expanding territory, building cities, raising expectations and raising our flag on new and beautiful horizons,” he declared. .
“And we will launch American astronauts to pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars and plant the American flag on Mars.”
“Manifest Destiny” refers to the 1800s belief that God wanted the United States to expand its territory across North America.
President Trump's inaugural address, held indoors due to frigid weather in Washington, D.C., was the longest since at least the 1930s.