President Trump has made repeated claims about the Panama Canal since returning to office,

including his contention that China operates it, and he even threatened to take it back.

Economics correspondent Paul Salman looks at some of the history of the canal and the facts surrounding its operation.

The Panama Canal, key link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,

handling about 5% of all global maritime trade, the U.S. its biggest user.

It's now a focal target of the President's.

We lost 38,000 people building the Panama Canal.

We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. China's running the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made.

China is running the Panama Canal.

We're going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen.

So does or doesn't the President have a point?

Well, let's start with a bit of history.

The canal was built by the U.S. from 1904 to 1914.

Why?

So we wouldn't need separate Navy fleets for each ocean.

Which would be a cost savings to the country because they could navigate the canal back and forth Atlantic to Pacific.

And that's why Congress made the investment.

It never really was about trade. It was about the military.

The U.S. spent over 300 million at the time, billions in today's dollars. And the president

says thousands of American lives were lost building the canal. It's estimated probably somewhere

on five or six hundred Americans may have perished. We know there were thousands and thousands

of imported workers from all over the world,

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