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Defense Secretary Pete Hegses is set to meet with Panama leaders next week amid President Donald Trump’s continued efforts to regain control of key strategic and military resources.
The Trump administration has been frank about the national security threats presented by alleged Chinese intervention.
During a visit in February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post in X: “The United States cannot continue its effective and growing control over the Panama Canal region.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed on Friday that the Secretary of Defense will attend the 2025 Central American Security Conference and participate in the discussion “advance continuing efforts to strengthen US partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations.”
On November 17, 2015, a cargo boat will be sailed on the Panama Canal next to the Panama Canal expansion project on the Pacific side of Panama City (Reuters)
Panama denies state departments claiming it uses the canal of state government ships to eliminate fees
The president has criticized the six-figure premiums charged on US ships traveling along key waterways, and previously proposed buying back the canal.
It was built by the United States for decades, but was eventually handed over to Panama during the Carter administration.
The Panama Canal Repurchase Act, a bill recently introduced in Congress, would grant Trump the power to negotiate with appropriate Panama government officials to reacquire the Panama Canal.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses will be attending the NATO Defense Ministers’ Conference on February 13, 2025 at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium (Reuters/Yves Herman)
China and Hong Kong threaten to block the sale of Panama Canal Port to BlackRock in the US
Panama President Jose Raul Murino previously said that China had not affected the canal and had accused Trump of “lying” about potentially gaining it.
BlackRock, Inc. later announced a $23 billion deal with Hong Kong-based CK Hutchinson, which announced the ownership of Cristobal and Balboa’s port of Panama, as well as 43 ports from 23 other countries.
Two cargo ships will be placed in the lock at Miraflores on the Panama Canal in Panama City on January 22nd (Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images)
The canal can be used as China’s leverage in US tariff negotiations.
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Hegseth will visit Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to meet military members and leadership at the 7th Special Forces Group, according to the Associated Press.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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