Trump Hammers Jimmy Carter Before His Body Is in the Ground

Jimmy Carter being set to lie in state on Tuesday was not enough to protect him from Donald Trump’s rage.

The president-elect—as just part of a complaint-laden screed—slammed Carter in a news conference over his decades-old decision to relinquish control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

“Jimmy Carter gave it to them for $1 and they were supposed to treat us well,” Trump said of the canal. “I thought it was a terrible thing to do. It was the most expensive structure ever built in the history of our country.”

The dig came as Carter, who died on Dec. 29 aged 100, was being transported from the Carter Center in Atlanta to the U.S. Capitol. His body is scheduled to lie in state there from Tuesday afternoon until his funeral on Thursday.

That detail did not appear to be remiss on Trump, who acknowledged he would be criticized for the timing of his comment.

“Nobody wants to talk about the Panama Canal now,” he said. “It’s inappropriate, I guess, because it’s a bad part of the Carter legacy.”

The president-elect offered some measured praise for the 39th president, calling him “a good man” and “a very fine person.” Not to let his point be forgotten, however, Trump reminded again that “giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake.”

“And I believe that’s why Jimmy Carter lost the election in my opinion, more-so maybe than the hostages,” Trump said, referring to the Iran Hostage Crisis that saw U.S. diplomats be held in captivity for over a year. That crisis rocked the nation while Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, who handedly defeated the Democrat in 1980.

Carter signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties in 1977, which set in motion the 1999 transfer of the U.S.-built canal to the country it was located within. The canal cost around $375 million to construct, making it the most expensive U.S. project at the time of its completion in 1914. Thousands of American laborers died during the construction process.

Trump has spoken recently about taking back the canal from Panama, complaining the Panamanian government has been gouging U.S. businesses and the U.S. Navy at prices higher than what they charge other countries.

“They laugh at us because they think we’re stupid,” Trump said of Panama. “But we’re not stupid anymore, so the Panama Canal is under discussion with them right now. They’ve violated every aspect of the agreement and they morally violated it also.”

The Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has pushed back against Trump and has asserted the canal will remain under his country’s control.