The U.S. acquired the rights to build and operate the canal in the early 20th century, but at the time, Panama was in the process of seceding from Colombia, whose senate was refusing to ratify a treaty that would allow the canal to be built, according to the State Department's Office of the Historian .

President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend suggested the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that was immediately rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

PHOENIX — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.