Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama for his first international trip as the country’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned.
Although details are still being worked out, the visit could take place as soon as next week.
The planned trip comes after repeated vows President Donald Trump – who returned to the White House on Monday – to take back the Panama Canal.
Trump mentioned the Panama Canal again during his inaugural address on Monday, claiming it was now in the hands of China and vowing to take it back.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance in the vice presidential ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“China operates 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 responded strongly to Trump’s comments on Wednesday, saying “we reject in its entirety everything Mr. Trump has 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 on 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 20th century under then-President Theodore Roosevelt, in its search for ways to ease the transit of commercial and military ships between the coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on December 31, 1999, under a treaty 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 top priority of curbing mass migration that he outlined earlier this week .
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance in the vice presidential ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, as his wife, Jeanette Rubio, watching . (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce tells Fox News that “Secretary Rubio is prioritizing the region because that’s where we live,” adding “we will not continue to ignore the region as other administrations have done.”
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She added: “Working with our neighbors is a key element in addressing migration, supply chains and economic growth, which are critical to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of a foreign policy focused on a strong, prosperous and secure making America.”
Adam Shaw of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
