FACT CHECK: Did the U.S. Ever ‘Own’ The Panama Canal?

A post on X claims that the U.S. never “owned” the Panama Canal.

Social media is all mega phone, almost no filter. Would it kill this guy to research for 5 minutes to see how irrational this is?

Pressure politics are a thing … but this is not real leverage, the US chipping in for management costs is the card to play…America never owned… https://t.co/1lzBgcHIsY

— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) December 22, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

The U.S. signed a treaty in 1903 that allowed it to build and operate the Canal. President Jimmy Carter gave control back to Panama in 1978 under a new treaty. One expert, though, said Cuomo’s statement was “mostly right.”

Fact Check:

President-elect Donald Trump stated in December that he wishes for the United States to regain full control of the Panama Canal if Panama doesn’t lower it’s shipping rates, The BBC reported at the time. The President-Elect called certain, unspecified fees Panama is charging the U.S. for the Canal “ridiculous [and] highly unfair,” according to the outlet.

Former CNN and current NewsNation host Chris Cuomo weighed in on the debate on his X account, stating that Trump and the United States have no leverage and that America “never owned” the Panama Canal.

“Pressure politics are a thing … but this is not real leverage, the US chipping in for management costs is the card to play…America never owned it,” his tweet partially reads.

This claim is misleading, as the U.S. previously held ownership of the rights to the Panama Canal in the past. According to the Office of the Historian, an arm of the U.S. State Department, the Hay-Herran Treaty was negotiated with Columbia in 1903, and it gave the U.S. the rights to the land surrounding the Canal in exchange for financial compensation.

John Nemmers, curator of the Panama Canal Museum Collection at the University of Florida, confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty on Nov. 18, 1903, which granted the U.S. rights and powers the rights and powers to construct and operate the Canal and to establish a canal zone. “

The U.S. also agreed to pay a one-time sum of money and an annual sum to the Republic of Panama as part of this agreement (something similar to a rental fee),” John said.

According to Matthew Parker, author of the book “Panama Fever”, the treaty was mired in such scandal that even U.S Secretary of State John Hay was embarrassed by the treaty. Jay, one of the signers of the treaty, thought the treaty was a bit too generous towards the United States. (RELATED: Did Panama Increase Fees On U.S. Warships In The Canal?)

President Carter, who died in late December 2024, along with then Panamanian Chief of Government Omar Torrijos, signed the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 which would relinquish American control of the Canal by the year 2000. The United States officially gave back control on December 31, 1999 per the agreement.

Michael Conniff, Professor Emeritus of History and San Jose State University, does believe Cuomo’s statement is “mostly right,” however, stating that the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gave the U.S. the rights to build, operate and defend the Canal “as if it were sovereign.” Conniff added “there is no way we could ‘take back’ the Canal under international law.”

Cuomo did not respond to Check Your Fact’s request for comment.