Donald Trump doubled down on his threats to retake control of the Panama Canal, but military experts say his stated concerns about national security are vastly overblown. The president claimed in his inaugural address that "China is operating the Panama Canal,

The new administration sees Chinese-owned infrastructure as leverage over the waterway. Panama and some former U.S. military officials say concerns are overblown.

Recovering the Panama Canal, on the other hand, involves stepping into the hornet’s nest of Latin America’s nationalistic politics that are increasingly influenced by China, Russia, and Iran. Successive Democrat administrations have allowed America’s main adversaries to develop a growing intelligence,