‘Unite the Panamanian people’: The Mayor of Panama City shares his strong reaction to Donald Trump’s unhinged Canal threat 

Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed deal-making titan, just got a “no thank you” from the Mayor of Panama City.

You see earlier, Trump whined about canal fees, claimed that Panama owed the U.S. bigly, and even suggested that he could just take the canal by force if he wanted to. Well, the Mayor of Panama City, Mayer Mizrachi, reminded Trump that the days of gunboat diplomacy are over, and that the U.S. can’t just go around annexing whatever it wants like some kind of geopolitical bully. 

Mizrachi’s message? Sit down, be humble, and let’s talk like allies — or else be prepared to face a united Panamanian people ready to defend their sovereignty. “Collaboration is key to economic development and prosperity,” he reminded Trump. And to cap it off, he made sure to clarify one thing loud and clear: “We are not, and will never be, the 51st state.”

Panama Canal has a fascinating history that goes way beyond Trump’s half-baked understanding. Construction began in 1881 under French leadership, but was later taken over by the U.S. in 1904. The project was a massive undertaking, with thousands of workers battling tropical diseases, harsh conditions, and engineering challenges. Despite the tragic loss of life, the canal was completed in 1914, revolutionizing global trade by providing a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

In 1977, President Carter signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which set the stage for the transfer of the canal to Panamanian control by Dec. 31, 1999. This was a monumental step in recognizing Panama’s sovereignty and promoting better relations between the two countries. Since then, the Panama Canal Authority has been successfully managing and operating the canal — they don’t need some history-challenged dictator barging in (…Trump still thinks the U.S. and Italy have been pals since the Roman Empire!)

Unfortunately, the Mayor of Panama City isn’t alone in batting away Trump’s imperial fantasies. When Donald mused about making Canada and Greenland part of the U.S., leaders were quick to shut him down. Canada scoffed at becoming the 51st state, while Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede crisply reminded Trump that “Greenland is not for sale.”  It seems like his sudden hankering for some good old-fashioned “Manifest Destiny” – you know, that wacky 19th-century belief that the U.S. was divinely ordained to spread across the continent — has left him with a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease.

Maybe, his imperial urges are just another symptom of his narcissism and his inability to accept that the world doesn’t revolve around him. The most frightening thing about Trump’s narcissism is the way it blinds him to the consequences of his actions. He doesn’t seem to care about the damage he’s doing to America’s alliances, to the global economy, or to the very fabric of international cooperation. All he cares about is his own ego, his legacy, and his own twisted sense of what it means to be a winner. However, on the global stage, Trump is just a small, petty man with delusions of grandeur. The sooner he realizes that, the better off we’ll all be.