Former National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed Friday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that President Donald Trump talking about taking back the Panama Canal and not ruling out using military force “makes us look ridiculous.”
Host Jim Acosta said, “I just wanted to get your take on what Trump said during his inaugural speech earlier this week that the U.S. should take back the Panama Canal. Do you take that seriously? And what does that mean, take back the panama canal? Does he mean some sort of military operation or pressuring the Panamanians to hand it back over to the U.S.?”
Bolton said, “Well, he was asked specifically, you know, he wouldn’t rule out military force. I mean, I think it’s ridiculous. I think it makes us look ridiculous. He said in the inaugural that the Chinese are running the Panama canal. They absolutely are not. He had said earlier Chinese soldiers were running the canal, which they absolutely are not. There’s a problem with Chinese port operations around the world, I think in many strategic places. There’s a couple of Chinese port operations on the Pacific coast of the Panama canal. They’re not running the canal itself.”
He added, “But if we’ve got problems with that, and there may well be a legitimate reason to be concerned, the way you handle it sensibly is to have quiet, behind-closed-doors negotiations with the Panamanians to get the Chinese company moved out and get somebody else moved in. When you negotiate under the glare of spotlights, you put people like the president of Panama, who happens to be pretty pro-American at the moment, you put him in a box and make it harder to get what you want. In effect, what Trump is doing here is getting in his own way.”
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