Trump touts BlackRock’s Panama Canal port deal in address to Congress

President Donald Trump on Tuesday touted the U.S. asset management firm BlackRock’s deal to buy two Panama Canal ports as a positive step in his broader effort at “reclaiming” the canal for the United States.

In a joint address to Congress, Trump said his administration has “already started” working to gain control of the canal that connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Oceans.

“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal,” Trump said, referring to the deal between an investment group led by BlackRock and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison.

The Chinese company’s contract in Panama had previously been singled out by U.S. lawmakers as an example of Beijing’s creeping expansion into Central and South America.

A spokesperson for BlackRock did not immediately reply to a request for comment early Wednesday.

“The Panama Canal was built by Americans, for Americans, not for other but others could use it,” Trump said in the U.S. Capitol, adding that it had been “built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure.”

BlackRock’s deal to acquire two of the ports came as the Trump administration actively seeks new ways for Washington and American firms to help counter China’s presence in the region.

Panama only gained control of the canal in 1999, more than 20 years after then-President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty in 1977 that granted Panama eventual control over the crucial waterway.

“That agreement has been violated very severely,” Trump said in his address Tuesday. “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama. We’re taking it back.”

The administration’s efforts to “take back” control of the Panama Canal are being spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended Trump’s address and received cheers when the president acknowledged his role in the Panama Canal endeavor.

“Good luck, Marco,” Trump said, half jokingly. “Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong.”