Donald Trump has refused to rule out using military force to retake the Panama Canal that was returned by the US to Panama decades ago.

A Panamanian national holiday remembering the killing of 21 protesters by police and U.S. troops in 1964 is taking on new resonance this year as U.S.

President-elect Donald J. Trump refused on Tuesday to rule out the use of military or economic coercion to force Panama to give up control of the canal that America built more than a century ago and to push Denmark to sell Greenland to the United States.

The canal executive said China doesn’t control route and U.S. ships can’t get better rates than others.

Trump's intention marks a rejection of decades of U.S. policy that has prioritized self-determination over territorial expansion.

The Panama Canal Authority chief dismissed President-elect Trump’s claims that China is controlling the trade route and criticized his comments about fees. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales told The Wall Street Journal that Trump’s accusations that China is running the Panama Canal are “unfounded.

The leader of the Panama Canal Authority denied President-elect Donald Trump’s claims that China is controlling the vital trade route and said Trump’s suggestion that U.S. ships get preferential rates “will lead to chaos.

Panama rejected suggestions of Chinese influence over its canal and dismissed threats of possible US military action on January 7, after President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out force to regain control of the strategic waterway.