Donald Trump offered a bombastic and contradictory vision for US foreign policy at his inauguration on Monday, declaring that he would be a “peacemaker and unifier” even as he repeated his vow to “take back” the Panama canal.

In his speech, Trump said that the Panama canal, which was built by the US in the early 1900s but ultimately given to Panama in 1977 under a treaty that guaranteed its neutrality, was a “foolish gift that should never have been made”.

“We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back,” he said.

The Panama canal was built over a series of decades in the late 1800s and early 1900s and carried a devastating human toll due to accidents and diseases such as malaria.