Rubio to Visit Panama, Source Says, Amid Trump Push to Take Back Canal

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Jan. 23, 2025, at 9:22 a.m.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama during his first overseas trip in the post, a source told Reuters on Thursday, as President Donald Trump makes a push for the United States to take back the Panama Canal that has angered the Central American country.

Rubio is expected to depart on Jan. 31 and travel during the first week of February, making additional stops in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador, according to the source who was familiar with the plans. Planning for the trip is still ongoing and the itinerary is subject to change, the source added. Asked about the trip, the U.S. State Department on Thursday said it did not have travel plans to announce at this time.

Trump has accused Panama of breaking the promises it made for the final transfer of the strategic waterway in 1999 and of ceding its operation to China - accusations that the Panamanian government has strongly denied. "We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back," Trump said in his inaugural address on Monday.

President Jose Raul Mulino responded on X on Monday that the Panama Canal "is and will continue to be Panamanian." Panama has also alerted the United Nations to Trump's remarks, in a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-01-23/rubio-to-visit-panama-source-says-amid-trump-push-to-take-back-canal