Updated 21:49 IST, February 2nd 2025
US Secretary of State Begins Diplomatic Trip with Panama Visit Amid Increased Pressure from Trump
Trip aims to strengthen relations amid increased pressure from Trump on US neighbors, including his controversial demand for the Panama Canal's return.

Panama City: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat with a meeting with Panama's President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday. This marks the opening of a trip aimed at strengthening relations in the face of increased pressure from President Donald Trump on the US' neighbors and allies, including a controversial demand for the Panama Canal to be returned to the US.
The trip came just a day after President Trump announced significant tariffs on Canada and Mexico, leading to retaliatory actions from both countries. In contrast to Trump's more confrontational approach, Rubio was expected to take a more diplomatic stance in his discussions with Panama's leadership.
After his talks with Mulino, Rubio planned to visit an energy facility before heading to the Panama Canal, which remains a focal point of Trump’s interest and ongoing diplomatic discussions.
Mulino has said there will be no negotiation with the US over ownership of the canal, and some Panamanians have staged protests over Trump's plans. Mulino said he hoped Rubio's visit would focus on shared interests such as migration and combating drug trafficking.
Rubio will be pressing Trump's top focus — curbing illegal immigration — but has also said he will be bringing the message that the US wants to reclaim control over the Panama Canal despite intense resistance from regional leaders to combat China's growing influence in the hemisphere.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at the either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.
“We're going to address that topic,” Rubio said a day earlier. “The president's been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.” The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999 and they object strongly to Trump's demand to hand it back.
Despite Mulino's rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already under way and could lead to a rebidding process.
What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.
Rubio's trip, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in US foreign assistance. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting but details of those were not immediately available.
(with agency inputs)
Published 21:49 IST, February 2nd 2025