US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States should never have handed control of the Panama Canal to Panama, accusing the Central American nation of sharply increasing transit fees and accusing China of attempting to gain influence over the strategic waterway.Speaking at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, Trump criticized the US decision to transfer control of the canal under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter treaties and said Washington would not allow Beijing to take over the route.“The Panama Canal, so we gave it away. The first thing they did, you know what they did? They quadrupled the prices of ships, and they didn’t lose a single ship. And then they raised it twice, and they didn’t lose a single ship. All they did was earn a lot of money over the years. How stupid was that?” Trump said.He added, “And now China is trying to take over the Panama Canal, and we’re not going to let that happen, OK? And that wasn’t part of the script because I don’t really have a script because this thing doesn’t work.”The Panama Canal was transferred to Panama under the 1977 Torrijos–Carter treaties, with the country taking full control of the waterway in 1999.During the same event, Trump also reiterated his criticism of the U.S. Supreme Court’s handling of birthright citizenship, while praising recent decisions he said strengthened the authority of the president and strengthened the merit-based system.Trump said he believed the court had made a mistake in the birthright citizenship case, but expressed confidence that the issue would eventually be resolved.“We will take care of birthright citizenship because it was not for rich people in other countries. This was for the children of slaves. If you look at it, it ran a month after the Civil War ended. This is because it was for the children of slaves. It was not for the rich people of China. They came in Gulfstream,” Trump said.He said, “I’m sure, no, I know they got it wrong, but it’s OK.”Trump also welcomed the recent Supreme Court decision which he said restored important powers to the presidency. On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the president’s authority to remove the leaders of executive branch agencies, overturning a 91-year-old precedent that had limited the president’s power to fire Senate-confirmed officials.“You know, not so long ago, in not yesterday’s decisions, where we actually had a good day except for birthright citizenship, we had something that gives tremendous power to the President of the United States, and we won that, I think, 6 to 3,” he said.“It was taken away from the second Roosevelt. It was taken away from FDR in 1932. It’s been going on for almost a hundred years. It was called the Slaughter case, and a lot of people didn’t think it would ever be won. We won it in the Supreme Court two days ago,” Trump said.He said, “It gives power back to the President at a time when the President really needs power. I think it was the most important decision of them all.”