WATCH: Reclaiming the Panama Canal could be back on the table

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

Taking back the Panama Canal is “sort of on the table,” President Donald Trump told The Center Square in response to a question regarding comments the president previously made about the U.S. reclaiming control of the vital shipping canal.

“I don’t want to tell you that. Sort of. I must say,” the president laughed while responding to the question. “That’s sort of on the table.”

The question was posed to the president during a nearly two-hour-long press conference at the White House touting the achievements of his first year back in office, marking the one-year anniversary of his inauguration Tuesday.

Trump has made no bones about his unhappiness that control of the canal was given to the Panamanians initially in 1977 under former President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

As the president pushes for dominance in the Western Hemisphere, having previously underscored China’s and Russia’s growing influence there, the Panama Canal could be a vital piece in the president’s attempt to revive the Monroe Doctrine.

Chinese companies hold major control over port concessions, providing them with significant influence, while they are positioned on both ends of the canal.

Construction of the canal began in 1904 after the U.S. purchased a 10-mile strip of land, paying $10 million upfront; however, the waterway cost American taxpayers an estimated $375 million.

The Panama Canal handles about 6% of the global shipping trade each year, with the U.S. being the top user of the waterway.

During Trump’s first State of the Union Address of his second term in March 2025, the president underscored his desire to reclaim the canal; since then, he has been largely silent on the move.

“To further enhance our national security. My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” the president said during his address. “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple other canals.”