Like the President of the United States Donald Trump was sworn in For his second term on Monday, he reiterated his desire to Panama Canal He renamed the Gulf of Mexico in his inaugural address.

Trump has spoken about the canal and the Gulf of Mexico in the past. He indicated on Monday that he was serious about the matter Go ahead With these two ideas – and soon.

But despite the power of the US president, can Trump really take over the Panama Canal and rename the Gulf of Mexico? What will that include?

“Manifest Destiny”: What did Trump say during his inauguration?

During his inaugural address, Trump expressed his dreams of American territorial expansion. As he unveiled plans for space exploration, he invoked the 19th-century expansionist doctrine of “manifest destiny,” which held that the United States was destined for territorial expansion.

“We will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to America’s Gulf,” he said, his ambitious tone punctuated by pauses to contain his excitement. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Hillary ClintonTrump, who Trump defeated in the 2016 election to power for the first time, burst into laughter in the crowd behind him as he finished his sentence.

Trump praised former US presidents, including Republicans William McKinleywho held the presidency from 1897 to 1901. He also recognized former President Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., a Republican who held office from 1901 to 1909. He issued a resolution Executive order To rename Alaska’s Mount Denali to Mount McKinley after the former president. It was the name of the mountain Changed from McKinley to Denali By former Democratic President Barack Obama In 2015, reflecting the indigenous name Alaskan people The residents were used to the mountain.

To Roosevelt, building lineage Panama CanalA man-made waterway on the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The canal was built mostly by the United States between 1904 and 1914, under the direction of Roosevelt.

Trump said that the canal was “foolishly given by the United States to the State of Panama.”

He added: “We were treated very poorly by this foolish gift that should never have been given, and Panama has broken its promise to us.

“First of all, China runs the Panama Canal. We did not give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we will take it back.”

Trump has had a controversial history with Panama. In 2018, Trump was forced to relinquish his name from the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Panama after a dispute with the majority owner of the hotel.

on monday, President of Panama José Raul Molino He rejected the claims made by Trump in his inauguration speech. He said in a statement translated by news agencies: “On behalf of the Republic of Panama and its people, I must comprehensively reject the words outlined by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its canal, in his inauguration speech.” “There is no country in the world that interferes in our administration.”

Who owns the Panama Canal?

The government of Panama owns the 82 km (51 mi) canal.

Panama was handed over ownership of the canal on December 31, 1999, under a 1977 treaty signed by the former US president. Jimmy Carter and former Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos.

Under the treaty, the US government relinquished control of the canal by 2000. The treaty gives the United States authority to maintain and operate the canal. Ships from any country can transit the canal. The treaty does not contain a clause allowing the United States to assume ownership of the canal.

The treaty stipulates that canal crossing fees must be “fair, reasonable, equitable and consistent with international law.”

“The entire purpose of our agreement and the spirit of our treaty have been violated. American ships are being overloaded and not treated fairly in any way. And that includes the U.S. Navy,” Trump said during his inaugural address.

In 2023, it was the Panama Canal affected by drought Conditions in Central America. Traffic through the waterway declined 29 percent in the last fiscal year. Between October 2023 and September 2024, 9,944 ships crossed the canal, compared to 14,080 ships the previous year.

Panama’s President Molino said the tariffs that led to the canal hikes were “not set on a whim” in late December 2024, after Trump first talked about taking over the canal.

China does not own the canal. Although CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong-based company, has operated two of the canal’s ports, located on the Caribbean and Pacific entrances, since 1997. In his December statement, Molyneux also said China does not own the Panama Canal “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs and will continue to belong to Panama.” [to Panama]”.

Can Trump seize the Panama Canal?

An article published by the Washington, D.C.-based Atlantic Council think tank on Monday said that one way Trump could “reclaim” the canal is to increase American investment in it, and invest in companies that directly and indirectly operate the canal.

Trump did not specify how he would deal with the canal, but he did not rule out the possibility of using military or economic force for regional expansion. He has also spoken about his desire to acquire Greenland and Canada since his vote.

The canal represents an estimated 2.5 percent of global maritime trade and 40 percent of total U.S. container traffic.

If Trump seizes the Panama Canal, “it would be a violation of the UN Charter, the governing document that has framed international relations since World War II,” according to Al Jazeera’s James Baez. This is because the canal is part of Panama, which is a sovereign country.

How many people died during the construction of the Panama Canal?

While there openingTrump said that the United States “lost 38,000 people building the Panama Canal.”

In an August 2023 interview, Trump told conservative host Tucker Carlson: “So we built something called the Panama Canal.”

“We lost 35,000 people to mosquitoes, malaria, you know. We lost 35,000 people to construction, and 35,000 people to mosquitoes. Evil. They had to build under nets.”

In September 2023, the BBC verified this claim by speaking to Matthew Parker, author of Hell Straits: The Battle to Build the Panama Canal. Lives have already been lost during the construction of the canal due to mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, Parker said. He added that other diseases also spread, including typhoid, cholera, and black water fever.

In 1880, the French began digging the canal, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, who built the Suez Canal in Egypt. The French attempt lasted nine years until it went bankrupt.

When asked how many people died building the canal during the French attempt, Parker said: “The rough estimate is about 25,000 people.” He added that those who died were not only workers, but also engineers. This includes engineers from France and workers from Jamaica, Central America and Colombia, he said.

During the American effort to build the canal, “about 6,000 people died, almost all of them from Barbados,” Parker said. Of these six thousand, about 300 Americans died.

Can Trump rename the Gulf of Mexico?

Technically, yes, but the rest of the world will not have to accept Trump’s renaming of the Gulf.

The Gulf of Mexico is bordered to the eastern states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo; And the states located on the Gulf Coast of the United States: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

There are no formal international laws defining the global name for the common maritime domain or disputed area. However, the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) standardizes names and resolves disputes.

In the United States, the American Board on Geographic Names oversees geographic designations. The council’s website says it “does not encourage changing names unless there is a compelling reason.”

In 2012, Mississippi State Representative Steve Holland proposed a bill to rename parts of the Gulf, close to the United States, as America’s Gulf. Hollande later dismissed the bill as a joke, and it had not passed when it was referred to committee.

So, while Trump could, in theory, change the name of the Gulf of Mexico on official US documents, this does not need international acceptance.

Are there other bodies of water with disputed names?

Diplomatic tensions between neighboring countries have led to long-standing conflicts over the naming of maritime spaces.

Japan and Korea differ over what can be called the sea that surrounds the two countries. Tokyo calls it the Sea of ​​Japan, while Seoul insists on calling it the East Sea.

Label for South China Sea It is also disputed. The Philippines insists that parts of it be called the West Philippine Sea, while Vietnam prefers to call it the East Sea.

What Iran calls the Persian Gulf is known as Arabian Gulf By Arab countries.