In recent weeks, when he was President-elect Donald Trump publicly said that Panama should return the Panama Canal to the United States, and he would not rule out using military force to reclaim it. At his presidential Inauguration on Monday Trump doubled down on saying that his new administration was going to take back the canal.

The Panama Canal connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, providing a crucial shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for maritime traffic. The United States handed Panamanian control of the canal in 1999 after overseeing its construction and operation for most of the 20th century.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced in his inaugural speech that he intends to reclaim the Panama Canal. Panama's President José Raúl Mulino has already responded to these statements. "We have been treated very poorly due to this foolish gift that should never have been given,