President Donald Trump should be given the opportunity to purchase the Panama Canal, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Newsmax on Thursday.
Johnson appeared on "National Report" to discuss legislation he proposed that would authorize the president, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to initiate and conduct negotiations with appropriate counterparts of the government of the Republic of Panama to reacquire the Panama Canal.
Johnson said 40% of all containers shipped out of the country go through the Panama Canal.
"Chinese companies control the ports on both ends of the canal, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific side," Johnson said. "We simply cannot allow our adversary to have that kind of control over a critical American shipping lane."
The U.S. controlled the Panama Canal until 1999, when it turned it over to Panama, per the terms of a peace treaty signed by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
"Donald Trump has been incensed that the Panamanians have not been treating us well since," Johnson said. "I don't think there is any harm at all in allowing a great negotiator like Donald Trump to engage in an exploration. Now, maybe ultimately, the Panama Canal isn't for sale, but he's a dealmaker. Let's give him a shot to go make it happen."
Johnson said Trump is concerned about the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on the region.
"Every day, the leaders in China wake up and try to figure out how to destabilize the American government," Johnson said. "We have not been paying that much attention to them, and we need to. President Trump saw how concerns about Houthi violence reduced traffic through the Suez Canal by 65%.
"He sees the huge trade deficit we have with the rest of the world. He sees that our traffic that goes through the Panama Canal is largely American energy. Those will be the two areas that will lead our charge toward killing this trade deficit. If we can't count on the Panama Canal, we cannot sell more American goods."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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