China does not manage the canal. Trump’s complaints on that relate to Panama having renewed, in 2022, a longstanding arrangement with a Hong Kong-based company to manage the two ports of entry to the canal. (The renewed deal has also recently drawn some ire in Congress.)

Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Donald Trump has said that the U.S. could demand the return of the Panama Canal if the country fails to reduce the fees it charges American ships.