Trump: Carter was a 'very good' man but the Panama Canal move was a 'big mistake'
President-elect Trump said Tuesday that negotiating the Panama Canal was former President Jimmy Carter's “biggest mistake” — ahead of Carter's state funeral later this week.
Trump said in a press conference that he believes that this canal, he would like America to return, is why Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, who also opposed the agreement that Carter negotiated to hand over this canal.
“It's a bad part of Carter's legacy,” Trump said.
“He was a good man. I knew him a little bit, and he was a very good person. But that was a big mistake.”
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President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Joe Biden at a fundraiser during the 1980 campaign. (Getty Images)
“Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a huge mistake. We lost 38,000 people. It cost us three billion dollars, maybe more… They say it was the most expensive building… ever built. And giving that away was a terrible thing and I believe that's why Jimmy Carter lost in the election, more than the hostages,” he said.
Speaking in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump complained that Carter “gave back” the canal lands to the Panamanians for “$1.” According to reports, no part of the agreement mentioned the sale of $1.
“I thought [giving the canal back] it was a bad thing to do,” Trump said.
When reporters pressed Trump for criticizing Carter on the day of his inauguration in Washington, the president-elect said he was “a very good person” but his politics left something to be desired.
Trump also spoke with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino about his plans for the canal.
However, more than a century ago, one of the Republicans – Theodore Roosevelt – celebrated how the United States led the project in part through a certain rhetoric.
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Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino (Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty)
In the early 1900s, as the Colombian Senate opposed a treaty in favor of US control, Panama was in the process of declaring its independence from Bogota – and America quickly recognized the new nation and successfully overran the Colombian people.
In 1903, President Roosevelt boasted of the achievement.
“Fortunately, this problem came at a time when I was able to do it without being interrupted [by Congress]. So, I took the Isthmus, I started this canal and I left Congress not to discuss this canal, but I will argue with myself,” he said.
Trump's plans to retake the canal have earned him praise from mainstream critics.
Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. The late John McCain – with whom Trump was often estranged – supported the man he used to criticize.
“Trump is right about the Panama Canal. This is personal – my father was born in the Panama Canal Zone.”
The elder McCain was born in 1936 when Coco Solo was installed in the US Navy – as a US citizen since the canal area was controlled by Americans.
The late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina also expressed doubts about the canal negotiations in the 1970s.
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In a letter to then-President Ford, Thurmond warned the Panamanians against aligning themselves with the Communist Cuban government, and that “any action by the United States that shows the least sign of weakness or willingness to accept anti-American sentiment. Panama, would lead many other Latin American countries to follow suit.” on the left.”
Thurmond led 35 senators in passing a resolution opposing what he called a surrender of US sovereignty to the PCZ.
“Any loss of control over the Canal would be very dangerous to our core interests, especially in Latin America. We must make it clear that US priorities there are non-negotiable.”
Carter's negotiations led to Panama taking full control of the canal in 1999. Another of his major diplomatic negotiations – the peace agreements between Egypt and Israel – is also still valid today.
