Trump: US ships should be allowed free passage through Panama and Suez canals

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump said that American military and commercial ships should be allowed free passage through the Panama and Suez canals, Reuters reported.

"I asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of this situation and record it," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Panama Canal runs through the narrowest part of the isthmus between North and South America, allowing ships to move faster between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. About 40% of US container traffic passes through it each year.

The United States completed construction of the canal at the beginning of the twentieth century, but handed control of the strategically important waterway to Panama in 1999.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to "take back" the canal. Before taking office in January, he said he did not rule out using economic or military force to regain control of the canal.