Nearly two months after he shocked the world by claiming that the US would retake the Panama Canalbe it by using force if required, Donald Trump seems to have got his way.

This is after Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, which operates two key ports on the Panama Canal, agreed to sell them to a group led by US investment firm BlackRock.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Hong Kong firm to sell Panama Canal ports

As per the deal, the consortium led by BlackRock will buy the ports of Balboa and Cristobal for $22.8 billion.

The two ports are strategically located on each end of the Panama Canaland Trump had raised concerns over Chinese control of the vital shipping route.

Trump claims victory

Responding to the deal, Trump said the US is reclaiming the Panama Canal.

“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Trump said during his speech in the US Congress.

“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals,” he said.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Why Trump wants Panama Canal

About 12,000 ships used the Panama Canal last year, which connects 1,920 ports across 170 countries. Its position is strategic for the US, as more than three-quarters of vessels passing through originate in or are bound for the United States.

Trump threated to retake Panama Canal

In January, weeks before his inauguration as the US President, Trump had said that the Panama Canal, which was transferred to Panamanian control in 1999, was being “operated by China” and should be returned to American control as it was built by and for the US military.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Trump had even refused to rule out using the military to reclaim the Panama Canal, which the Panamanian government said would remain under its sovereign control.