Panama and Trump's Throwback Imperialism

Trump is out there ranting about “taking back” something that doesn’t belong to the United States.

Trump threatened to steal another country’s land again:

Trump reiterated his intentions to take back the Panama Canal, after threatening he would in a Truth Social post on Saturday. Trump said that the United States is being “ripped off” at the Panama Canal and has insinuated that China is gaining influence over the waterway. “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” Trump said Sunday.

The fearmongering about China is a reminder of how pernicious defining U.S. foreign policy around great power rivalry can be. The threats against Panama show how Trump’s crude imperialism and the pursuit of rivalry with China reinforce each other. Trump assumes that the U.S. is always being “ripped off,” and he believes that the answer to this is to steal from other countries. If he thinks another country is getting too close to a rival, he wants the U.S. to “solve” that by threatening to steal some of their territory. Trump sees weaker countries in our hemisphere that he wants to dictate terms to, and rivalry with China provides him with the excuse for threatening them. He has probably been encouraged in this by his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has been inflating the Chinese “threat” in Panama for years.

Like the most ridiculous revanchist, Trump is out there ranting about “taking back” something that doesn’t belong to the United States. As I said last week, Trump likes to pick fights with weaker states. He often seems to do this simply for the sake of doing it and asserting dominance. The threats may end up being no more than bluster, but they still impose costs on the United States in our hemisphere. Other governments in the Americas will be less inclined to work with the U.S., and our country’s reputation will take a hit throughout the region. Should Trump attempt to follow through on these threats, it would poison U.S. relations with many of our neighbors for years to come.

Many hawks have long resented the return of the Panama Canal to Panamanian control, but until now they have never had a president quite reckless and stupid enough to talk about reversing it. If it seems far-fetched that Trump would terminate major treaties on the advice of hardliners, don’t forget that he nixed the successful and valuable INF Treaty during his first term. If he chose to tear up the treaties with Panama, there wouldn’t be much to stop him from doing it.

It should go without saying that the Canal and the surrounding territory rightfully belong to Panama. The U.S. has no right to take it “back,” and threatening to do this is deranged. The Panamanian government has predictably rejected Trump’s threats in the strongest terms:

“As president, I want to clearly state that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining zone is Panama’s and will remain so,” Mulino said Sunday. “The sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable.”

Trump’s threats against Panama are of a piece with his bullying of Canada and his saber-rattling against Mexico. He seems to be channeling late 19th and early 20th century expansionists to such an extent that it might not be long before he wants to send troops into Nicaragua or to occupy the Dominican Republic.

These threats against Panama are entirely unjustified. Unfortunately, that means that the targeted state has no way to satisfy the unhinged demands of the superpower. That tells me that Trump is not looking to coerce Panama into making some concession, but that he is looking for a pretext for conflict. Like Urquhart in The Final Cut, he may be imagining that he can score a quick foreign policy “win” at the start of his presidency.

35 years after the illegal and unnecessary invasion of Panama, the next president is threatening to seize Panamanian territory on little more than a whim. This is completely unacceptable and wrong. Congress and the public must reject any attempt to back up Trump’s threats with the use of force.