Panama and China have pushed back against United States President Donald Trump’s controversial claims regarding the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal “was not a gift” from the US, Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said on Wednesday in response to Trump’s threat to seize control of the strategic waterway.

President Trump’s reasons for wanting control of the Panama Canal can be found at either end of the interoceanic waterway.Every day, dozens of cargo ships pass by blue cranes at a port near the Pacific Ocean entrance,

Donald Trump’s insistence that he wants to have the Panama Canal back under U.S. control is feeding nationalist sentiment and worry in Panama.