There is no danger in exploring a purchase of the Panama Canal, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday, discussing President-elect Donald Trump’s ideas and his status as the “quintessential deal maker.”
Johnson, who recently introduced the Panama Canal Repurchase Act, told Breitbart News Saturday that there is no harm in inquiring about such a purchase.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea, and I don’t know if we can get it done, but what’s the danger in exploring it?” he asked. “That’s what I just I don’t understand about the left. They have had this alarmism and this pearl-clutching.”
While he said some individuals on the left have been open to the idea, he said others assert that it would be dangerous — a critique that he says does not make sense.
“It is not dangerous to go ask somebody whether or not they’re interested in selling you something when that kind of negotiation goes on every single day,” he said, explaining when he was in business, he would prompt discussions even “when the other person said at the start of the negotiations they weren’t interested in a deal.”
“Sometimes something comes together after you start talking. Donald Trump is the quintessential deal maker,” he said. “Let’s give him a little bit of flexibility here to go see whether or not a deal could happen. And you’re right about Panama. They will decide this is in their best interest.”
“We saw traffic in the Suez Canal fall by 65 percent because of the uncertainty created by the intermittent Houthi attacks and with the China military increasingly wanting a larger presence in the canal. It may well be that Panama does not want to see that kind of drop off in traffic. That would have a devastating impact on their economy and on their budget,” he said.
Ultimately, Johnson said many Republicans are on board and “willing to give President Trump the flexibility he needs to evaluate this.”
LISTEN:
Breitbart · Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) – January 11, 2025“I’ve talked to his team about it a number of times. I’m going to talk to the President about it tomorrow night over dinner, and I’m really looking forward to it. I mean, he is a force of nature, and the way he conducts himself really, really sends the left into a tizzy,” he said, using the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as an example.
“And anytime he says anything — I mean, I’ll just give you one example. He talked about moving our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem… the left said, Oh my gosh, that was going to kill millions of people. It would destabilize the Middle East. It would create this unbelievable war. And of course, he made the change, and none of that happened,” he said.
“There’s a certain amount of fear mongering that happens around Donald Trump’s ideas,” the congressman explained. “Some of his ideas he doesn’t intend seriously. And there’s times he’s sort of trolling people, and there are times he wants to make us think about something in a new way. He wants to be thought provoking rather than literal.”
“But there are times he actually is pushing an issue that’s a great idea. And I just I think we need to remind our friends across the political spectrum that they got to be smart enough to understand what’s he actually pushing when he’s talking about a particular idea, and right now, we understand that of all these Western Hemisphere expansion ideas, the Panama Canal would be the easiest one to pull off,” providing the “most important short term national security and economic security impacts for our country,” he said.
“And I’m really looking forward to seeing this idea mature,” the lawmaker added.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
