trump -” We gave the panama Canal to Panama, not to China”
You can’t give away what you don’t own, and the US never owned the Canal zone even for a day.
In the earliest days of the 20th century, the US negotiated with Columbia to build a canal in their territory of Panama. The terms were agreed upon but the Columbian senate in August, 1903 voted unanimously against it, fearing the loss of too much influence to the US. A group in Panama was formed (with the aid of a certain North American country) to lead a revolution for independence for the province of Panama. Voila. After a brief skirmish with Columbian troops aided by US gunboat diplomacy, independence was declared. The US promptly recognized and struck a deal with the new leaders.
The deal was a 99 year lease to the US, rent being $250,000 paid annually to Panama, fixed rate, and the US collected a couple million in tolls. But in 1964 Panamanian leaders were calling for a renegotiation of the treaty as after 60 years the same rent payment of $250,000 was shrinking in value as the collection of tolls had risen to over $100 million dollars, or 400 times the amount of rent the US was paying. They achieved some traction by taking the matter to the UN. The Johnson administration and Panamanian officials came to an agreement in 1968 but it failed to be ratified in Panama. Negotiations continued during the Nixon administration, and in 1977, under Carter, congress ratified the Torrijos-Carter Treaty which called for the gradual end of US control of the canal zone finalizing in 1999, cutting 4 years off the 99 year lease. And the US rent to Panama would increase to 10 million a year until it was handed over. (by the time of the handover, the US was collecting over 200 million in tolls.)
In summary, no, Jimmy Carter did not give the Panama canal away to anyone. During his time in office, the congress did finalize the renegotiation of the Hay-Bunau-Varrila Treaty of 1903, agreeing on total control to be returned to Panama in 1999. This, in fact happened.
