Trump Calls Panama Canal Deal a Win, Panama’s President Pushes Back

A $23 billion deal to sell key ports at both ends of the Panama Canal has sparked an international war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.

The deal, led by U.S. investment giant BlackRock, will give an American-led consortium control over Panama Ports Company, which runs the ports of Balboa and Cristobal — critical gateways at the Pacific and Atlantic entrances to the canal. BlackRock and its partners are buying the ports business from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.

Trump framed the sale as a major victory for U.S. national security, telling Congress this week that his administration is “reclaiming the Panama Canal.”

“We’ve already started doing it,” Trump said. “We’re taking it back.”

That statement triggered a sharp response from Panama’s leader. In a post on X, Mulino accused Trump of lying, calling the claim an “affront to the truth and our dignity as a nation.”

“The Panama Canal is not in the process of being reclaimed,” Mulino wrote. “The Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!”

Ports Deal Becomes a Political Flashpoint

While Panama has fully controlled the canal itself since 1999, the ports at each end have been operated by CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong-based company that some U.S. officials have linked to Chinese influence.

The BlackRock-led deal would transfer 90% ownership of those ports to a U.S. consortium that also includes Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited. The sale still needs approval from the Panamanian government.

Trump and some U.S. lawmakers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have repeatedly warned about Chinese companies holding strategic assets along the canal, calling it a national security risk.

However, Panama says Trump is distorting the facts. Mulino insists that the ports deal is a private