President-elect Trump unleashed a diatribe against it Panama Canal tolls Saturday, claiming the US is being ripped off by high prices.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump complained at length about the fees being charged to American ships crossing the Great Pit Panama Canal tolls can range from three to six figures, depending on the size of a ship and the cargo it’s carrying, with larger ships charging up to $500,000.

“The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL national asset for the United States, because of its critical role in the economy and national security of the United States,” Trump wrote in his post. “A secure Panama Canal is crucial to U.S. trade and the Navy’s rapid deployment from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and dramatically reduces shipping times to U.S. ports.”

The incoming president criticized former President Carter, who Trump said “gave him away senselessly, for a dollar.” In 1977, Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty, which phased out US control of the canal in 1999.

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President-elect Trump denounced the Panama Canal tolls in a Truth Social post on Saturday. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

Carter also signed the Neutrality Treaty, which ensured that tolls would be equal for all nations. Trump implied that the US should receive preferential treatment in his charge.

“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and senseless way,” argued the president-elect. “The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially considering the extraordinary generosity the US has bestowed upon Panama. This complete ‘scam’ of our country must be stopped immediately.”

Trump also floated the idea of ​​demanding that ownership of the canal be returned to the United States if American ships are not treated fairly.

“(The Panama Canal) was not given for the benefit of others, but only as a show of cooperation with us and Panama,” Trump concluded. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full and without any doubt.

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A cargo ship and a tug sail through the Cocoli Locks in the Panama Canal in Panama on August 12, 2024. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“To the officers of Panama, please behave accordingly!”

Trump also pointed out that the canal was built at massive cost to the United States, although he wrongly claimed that 38,000 Americans died while building it. The National Institutes of Health estimates that the number of people who died while working during the American construction of the canal was about 5,600.

It is not clear how many of those who died were Americans because a large part of the workforce was recruited from the Caribbean. Trump could have included the approximately 22,000 workers who died while the French were trying to build the canal in the 1880s.

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In an aerial view, a ship prepares to pass through the Aqua Clara locks at the entrance to the Panama Canal on September 20, 2023, in Colón, Panama. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Account X of the Department of Government Efficiency recently claimed the Panama Canal cost US taxpayers $15.7 billion. The channel is not subsidized by the US government. Ships passing through pay a toll.