Trump seeks ‘free’ transit for US ships

US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged free transit for American commercial and military ships through the Panama and Suez canals.

Trump has for months been calling for the United States to take control of the Panama Canal but his social media post also shifted focus onto the vital Suez route.

"American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He claimed both routes would "not exist" without the United States and said he had asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to "immediately take care of" the situation.

The United States and China are two of the top users of the Panama Canal.

Egypt's Suez Canal, a key waterway linking Europe and Asia, accounted for about 10 percent of global maritime trade before attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels on shipping routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.