Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, fresh off a weeklong trip to Panama, accused China on Sunday of attempting to seize the country’s historic Canal.
“The communist Chinese want to control politicians,” Hegseth said on Fox News. “They’re building infrastructure projects. They want to surveil. They want to take that canal. President Trump says, not on our watch, and we’re fighting back.”
The United States, Hegseth said, had been “asleep at the wheel.”
Last week, the Defense Department touted several important triumphs won by Hegseth in Panama, including an agreement on a joint declaration that will allow US warships and auxiliary ships to travel “first and free” via the canal. The two countries also reached an agreement on joint security activities.
Hegseth cited Panama’s withdrawal from China’s Belt and Road Initiative as evidence that the two countries are cooperating. Hegseth also complimented Trump’s efforts to reach a diplomatic settlement with Iran over its nuclear program, but he warned that if an agreement is not reached, the Defense Department may take more drastic measures.
“President Trump said in his State of the Union address China has too much influence over the Panama Canal, and America’s going the take it back. That’s exactly what I was charged to do, what we’re continuing to do. China’s influence cannot control our own backyard, especially a critical waterway, key terrain like the Panama Canal. You mentioned 40% of ships are U.S. ships, 75% are going to or from a port. So we were able to secure two historic agreements: one with the Panama Canal authority that our ships, our military vessels and our auxiliary vessels will travel first and free through that Panama Canal,” Hegseth began.
“And then we also signed a memorandum of understanding with the defense secretary over there and the president that established a robust and growing U.S. presence, right? You need to secure that key terrain. So Fort Sherman will reopen jointly with the Panamanians a Jungle School, and we’re going to have a larger U.S. presence at the invitation of Panama, working with them to keep the communist Chinese out. If we can’t use that that waterway in a key contingency, then China has an advantage. Other presidents have allowed us — we’ve been sort of asleep at the wheel. President Trump has said we need to be serious about our own backyard. That includes a place like the Panama Canal,” he added.
Hegseth continued, “And I want to thank President Molina, a pro-Trump, pro-America president of Panama, who’s sticking his neck out against communists whose influence was real there, Maria, we could see it, you could feel it. The communist Chinese want to control politicians. They’re building infrastructure projects. They want to surveil. They want to take that canal. President Trump says, not on our watch, and we’re fighting back.”
WATCH:
Host Maria Bartiromo jumped in and asked, “That’s unbelievable. When I spoke with President Trump in an interview last month, he said that all the signage around the canal was all in Chinese. When you’re going into it, it’s all Chinese signs, when you’re coming out of it, it’s all Chinese signs. That was one piece of color that indicates how dominant they’ve been.”
“Correct. They’re building a tunnel underneath the canal they’re paying for. What could that be used for? Surveillance of submarines, of ships? Bridges over the top. I flew by their cranes in that port, antennas all over them. What are those used to do? By now they’re removing a lot of that signage, but removing signage is not enough. You’ve got to remove the insidious influence,” Hegseth said.
“And getting these agreements signed, it was a big with effort across our DOD with their leaders, but they know that by coming closer to the United States and allowing additional joint U.S. presence, that’s pushing out nefarious, malicious Chinese influence. The Chinese didn’t like what happened in Panama this week, not at all, because this is a return of U.S. leadership, peace through strength, and the course was charted by President Trump,” he added.
