Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has dismissed US President-elect Donald Trump's threats to reclaim control over the Panama Canal, asserting Panamanian ownership and rejecting negotiations. Mulino also refuted claims of Chinese influence and ruled out lowering tolls for US ships,

President Mulino said the ‘canal is Panamanian and there’s no possibility of opening any kind of conversation around this reality’.

Mulino also ruled out lowering canal tolls for US ships and refuted claims that China held any sway over the crucial waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans