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Secretary of State just sworn in Marco Rubio He will travel to Panama for his first international trip as the country’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned.
While details are still being worked out, the visit could come as soon as next week.
The planned trip comes after repeated votes President Donald Trump – who returned to the White House on Monday – to recover the Panama Canal.
Trump brought up the Panama Canal again on Monday during his inaugural address, claiming it was 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 Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21 of 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“China is operating 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 forcefully to Trump’s comments on Wednesday, saying: “We reject in their entirety everything that 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.”
Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas (L) and 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 of 2024. (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP via Getty Images)
The United States built the canal in the early 1900s under then-President Theodore Roosevelt, as it sought ways to facilitate the passage of commercial and military ships between its shores. 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 address a top priority of curbing mass migration that he described earlier in this week
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is 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, as his wife, Jeanette Rubio, looks on. . (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told Fox News that “Secretary Rubio is prioritizing the region because it’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: “Engaging with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing migration, supply chains and economic growth, which are key to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of a foreign policy focused on making the U.S. be strong, prosperous and safe.”
Adam Shaw of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
