Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first international trip, the country’s top official, Fox News has learned.
Although the details are still being worked out, the visit could come as early as next week.
The planned trip comes after repeated vows by President Donald Trump – who returned to the White House on Monday – to seize the Panama Canal.
Trump also mentioned the Panama Canal during his inaugural address on Monday, saying it is now in Chinese hands and vowing to take it back.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President JD Vance at the Office of the Vice President Ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“China uses the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino strongly responded to Trump’s comments on Wednesday saying, “We absolutely reject everything Mr. Trump said. First, because it is false and second, because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”
The Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas (L) and the Portuguese cargo ship MSC Elma sail in Gatun Lake near the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon City, Panama, on December 28, 2024. (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP via Getty Images)
The US built the canal in the early 1900s under then-President Theodore Roosevelt as it looked for ways to facilitate the movement of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on December 31, 1999, under an agreement signed in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter.
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News of Rubio’s trip was first reported by Politico and could include other Central American countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, where Rubio is expected to tackle the high-profile issue of curbing mass immigration that he raised earlier this week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sworn in by Vice President JD Vance in the Office of the Vice President for Ceremonies in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, as his wife, Jeanette Rubio, looks on. . (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told Fox News that “Secretary Rubio prioritized the region because that’s where we live,” adding that “we will not continue to ignore the region as other administrations have done.”
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He added: “Engagement with our neighbors is a key element in addressing immigration, supply, and economic growth, which is key to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of a foreign policy focused on making America strong, prosperous and secure.”
Adam Shaw of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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