Panama Canal access in a hypothetical global war

In a global war, would the United States take control of the Panama Canal and keep it afterward?

The response distinguishes hostile control from neutral operation that preserves merchant passage; it supplies no definite timetable or answer about permanent occupation.

This hypothetical war leaves the canal's political and military position unspecified. The alternatives considered include neutral operation with merchant passage, denial of military transit, and control by an adversary. Narrow waters could also make the route an ambush point, while the participants are uncertain which major ships could pass through. Their distinction is between maintaining commercial links and requiring direct control for fleet movements. The question of keeping the canal afterward remains unanswered.