Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said China has no stake in the Panama Canal and US warships pay the same toll rates as other nations, pushing back against Donald Trump’s threats over the key waterway.

In a Christmas Day message on Truth Social, Trump sarcastically wished a merry Christmas to “the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” and “making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money,

The president of Panama is pushing back on rhetoric from President-elect Donald Trump after days of social media posts threatening to take back control of the Panama Canal. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino spoke at a press conference Thursday in which he dismissed various assertions made by the president-elect about the canal,