Addis Ababa — United States President Donald Trump said U.S. military and commercial ships should be allowed to travel free of charge through Suez canal, a strategic route for global trade and military operations.
The Guardian reported today that Donald Trump has demanded free transit for American commercial and military ships through Suez canal, tasking his secretary of state with making progress "immediately".
Trump has for months been calling for the United States to take control of the Panama canal but his social media post also shifted focus on to the vital Suez route.
"American ships, both military and commercial, must be allowed free passage through the Panama and Suez Canals. These two canals would not exist without the United States of America," the president wrote social media.
He had asked his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to "immediately take care of" the situation.
Egypt's Suez canal, a key waterway linking Europe and Asia, accounted for about 10 percent of global maritime trade before attacks by Yemen's Houthi on shipping routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
