“We’re Taking it Back!” Deciphering Trumpian Designs on Panama’s Canal and Sovereignty

This account of U.S.-Panamanian relations examines Trump’s discourse on Panama and interprets it in strategic terms. It describes and analyses the results of the second Trump administration’s policy toward Panama in its first eight months, in four policy areas: control of the canal, the rates charged for using the canal, the presence of U.S. troops in Panama and Panamanian cooperation with Trump’s migrant deportation practices. The article further relates how these questions have impacted the politics of Panama, in combination with other issues, socio-economic and ecological, that have given rise in 2025 to a powerful wave of social movements. The issue of Panamanian sovereignty in the broader context of current U.S. strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean is briefly discussed in conclusion.