WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Newly sworn-in President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that the United States would take back the Panama Canal as he delivered an inauguration speech in which he invoked the 19th century expansionist doctrine of "Manifest Destiny.

In his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump repeated criticisms he made in recent weeks over the canal, which handles about 3 per cent of global seaborne trade each year. The US oversaw the building of the Panama Canal,

President Donald Trump has called for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal unless the cost of passage for naval and merchant ships is slashed. Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of force is a throwback to the 19th century era of gunboat diplomacy.