Trump wants to reclaim Panama Canal

DC Daily Journal:

...

President Donald Trump has set his sights on a dramatic geopolitical play, reportedly directing the U.S. military to devise plans for retaking the Panama Canal and curbing China’s growing influence in the region. The initiative, led by United States Southern Command, signals a potential shift in America’s approach to a waterway it once built and controlled.

According to NBC News, the military’s options range widely—from collaborating with Panama’s security forces to a full-on U.S. takeover by force. Officials stress that the extent of military involvement hinges on Panama’s response to U.S. demands, placing the Central American nation at a crossroads in its dealings with Washington.

Adm. Alvin Holsey, head of Southern Command, is driving the effort, having “presented draft strategies to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week,” per the report.

While a complete U.S. seizure of Panama isn’t off the table, insiders say it’s a last resort—likely only if a beefed-up American military presence fails to wrest the canal from what Trump sees as foreign encroachment.

Trump frames the push as a reclamation mission, rooted in national security. “It was given away by the Carter administration for $1, but that agreement has been violated very severely,” he told Congress last week.

“We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” His words echo a resolve to restore U.S. dominance over a canal it funded and engineered over a century ago.
...

Trump sees the Panama Canal as a strategic asset of the US and views the current government of Panama as making a mistake by turning over some operations of the canal to China a US advisory.  With the canal under Chinese control it could impede the US's ability to respond in the event of a crisis in the hemisphere.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

Is the F-35 obsolete?

Headline USA: Pentagon Fires Back after Musk Calls Its Most Expensive Project ‘Obsolete’ 'Yeah, as I'm sure you can appreciate, Mr. Musk is, currently, a private citizen, I'm not going to make any comments about what a private citizen may have to say about the F-35....'   ... ... Drones appear to be replacing jets for many operations.  The Russia-Ukraine war is an example of that.  Drones are often hard to detect and can be used for intelligence operations as well as for attacking enemy targets.  It would not surprise me to see drones engaging other drones in combat.  They also cost much less than manned fighters.  
Read more

Apple's huge investment in US including Texas facility

Blaze: Apple announced a $500 billion commitment to infrastructure in the United States over four years, its largest commitment to domestic spending to date. Apple said it will expand teams and facilities in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington as part of its new spending. With a new facility in Houston, Texas, Apple will reportedly double its investment in advanced manufacturing along with increasing investments in AI and silicon engineering. The company said in a press release that the Houston facility will produce servers to support Apple Intelligence, the "personal intelligence system that helps users write, express themselves, and get things done." ... The Texas facility will be for advanced technologies.   Texas has become a place that is very supportive of the tech industries.  Austin and Houston have seen much of the tech growth in the state.  Texas universities have been active in the AI field.
Read more