Why does Trump want the Panama Canal? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has made a string of expansionist foreign policy announcements, angering several of his international counterparts. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM After reiterating his ambitious intention to purchase Greenland, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the US president doubled down on his insistence that Washington should regain control of the Panama Canal, the essential shipping passage he claims has been commandeered by China. Built by the United States in the early twentieth century, the waterway transformed global trade and marked America’s emergence as a superpower on the world stage, before being transferred to Panamanian control via a 1977 treaty. So why has Donald Trump got it in his sights now? In this episode Jonny Dymond speaks to Julie Greene, professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, about the storied history of the Panama Canal. And the BBC’s North America business correspondent Michelle Fleury discusses the politics and economics behind the Trump administration's diplomatic pursuit of the trade route. 00:00 Intro 01:06 Trump’s election campaign 02:09 Why claim the canal? 03:03 China and the Panama Canal 05:12 Transit fees 06:22 Why is this happening? 07:49 The history behind the canal 09:26 America and the Panama Canal 11:00 Canal changes hands 12:47 The riots 14:01 The treaties 17:00 Outro Watch more episodes of The Global Story here 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4dvK8UQS79GwGLDl94Z3gkt You can listen to more episodes of The Global Story here. Making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, Monday to Friday, from the BBC 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvsd/episodes/downloads Image credit: Reuters/Enea Lebrun ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #donaldtrump #panamacanal