After BlackRock Purchases 41 Ports In Panama Canal In $23 Billion Deal, Trump Reaffirms Plans To Send Military To Seize The Canal

After vowing to militarily seize control of the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump once again reaffirmed plans to claim the Canal as America’s own. This comes a week after global asset manager BlackRock helped secure the purchase of over several dozen ports in the Canal.

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During his State of the Union address on March 4th, Trump declared:

“To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal. And we’ve already started doing it.

“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal, and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.

“The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others, but others could use it. But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure—38,000 workers died building the Panama Canal. They died of malaria, they died of snake bites and mosquitoes. Not a nice place to work. They paid them very highly to go there, knowing there was a 25% chance that they would die.

“The most expensive project, also, that was ever built in our country’s history, if you bring it up to modern day costs. It was given away by the Carter administration for $1. But that agreement has been violated very severely. We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

Trump did not disclose what this “large American company” was, however it was revealed to be none other BlackRock, the world’s largest global asset management firm, managing over $11.6 trillion in assets.

Visual Capitalist’s Voronoi reported last week:

On March 4, a consortium helmed by BlackRock announced it would purchase two ports on the Panama Canal from a Hong Kong based investor group. The two ports, Cristobal and Balboa, are located on either side of the Canal, providing access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The deal includes 41 additional ports across the world and is worth $22.8 billion according to CNN.

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President Trump has had his eye on the Panama Canal since he took office. He criticized a treaty that transferred control to Panama in 1999 and claimed he would bring it back under U.S. control. He also has made false claims that the canal is operated by China. In reality, the independently operated Panama Canal Authority oversees its operations.

Still, the sale, which transfers ownership of two major ports from a Hong Kong conglomerate to an American one, aligns with the Trump administration’s goals.

Frank Sixt, the co-managing Director of CK Hutchison, said in a statement the sale was “purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports.”

In 2024, over 9.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) passed through Panama Canal ports. Balboa and Cristobal ports represented about 28% and 12% of that total respectively.

However, the Associated Press noted that “the transaction, which must be approved by Panama’s government, does not include any interest in a trust that operates ports in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and South China, or any other ports in China.”

But this purchase by BlackRock is part of a broader plan to purchase more global infrastructure. Geopolitical Economic Report pointed out:

The Wall Street giant’s subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners was central to the US government-sponsored Partnership on Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), which was launched by the Joe Biden administration and the G7.

BlackRock’s billionaire CEO Larry Fink was invited to sit with Western heads of state at the G7 summit in Italy in 2024, where he called for “public-private partnerships” to help Wall Street firms buy up global infrastructure, especially in poor, formerly colonized countries.

Bloomberg reported that Fink personally called Trump and asked him to help BlackRock purchase the Panama Canal ports. The financial media outlet noted that the billionaire CEO bragged of BlackRock’s deep links with governments worldwide, stating, “We are increasingly the first call”.

As Yahoo News put it, “BlackRock’s Panama Canal deal is latest win for chief Larry Fink in strong start to Trump era.”

Trump has had a good relationship with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

Prior to becoming President for the first time, Fink had helped manage Trump’s finances, and after a 2017 meeting with his administration, Fink acknowledged his relationship with Trump, noting: “In every meeting we had, he talked about doing more… I didn’t think ‘doing more’ meant [being] the president.” Three years later, Trump called upon Fink once again to oversee the stimulus distribution programs alongside former majority BlackRock shareholder, Bank of America. “I do believe it’s going to continue to bring opportunities for us,” Fink stated during a 2020 earnings call, referring to government assignments.

Trump said during that 2017 meeting:

“Larry did a great job for me. He managed a lot of my money. I have to tell you, he got me great returns.”

Trump speaks with WalMart CEO Doug McMillon (left) and BlackRock’s Larry Fink (right) at the White House in February 2017 – Source

World Affairs in Context

 also pointed out that GOP members for years have derided BlackRock’s conduct and ESG policies, including Vice President JD Vance, but he too has since changed his tune as he applauded Trump and BlackRock’s latest purchase agreement.

But since Panama did not sign up for this, Trump is now threatening once again to forcibly seize the canal.

NBC exclusively reported today that the Trump administration has asked the military to create plans to take over the canal. The network reported:

U.S. Southern Command is developing potential plans that vary from partnering more closely with Panamanian security forces to the less likely option of U.S. troops seizing the Panama Canal by force, the officials said. Whether military force is used, the officials added, depends on how much Panamanian security forces agree to partner with the U.S.

The Trump administration’s goal is to increase the U.S. military presence in Panama to diminish China’s influence there, particularly access to the canal, the officials said.

Both Panama and China deny there is any foreign interference in the 50-mile canal, whose neutrality is enshrined in Panama’s Constitution. Chinese officials have accused the U.S. of using “coercion” to pressure Panamanian officials to block Chinese aid projects.

The officials cautioned that a U.S. invasion of Panama is unlikely and would only come under serious consideration if a larger American military presence in Panama does not achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of reclaiming the waterway, the officials said.

[…] One other focus of the ongoing planning is potentially positioning U.S. military forces near Panama in the event of a regional war or a threat to the U.S. In that scenario, the U.S. military would aim to secure the Panama Canal and eliminate China’s access to the critical waterway. American officials cautioned that the U.S. would only block Chinese transit through the canal in the event of war.

Source- https://thewinepress.substack.com/p/after-blackrock-purchases-41-ports