Newly sworn in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first international trip as a state diplomat, Fox News has learned.
Although the details are still being worked out, the visit could take place 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 bring back the Panama Canal.
Trump mentioned the Panama Canal again during his inaugural address on Monday, claiming it is 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 JD Vance in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“China runs the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
president of panama José Raúl Mulino responded strongly to Trump’s comments on Wednesday, saying: “We reject in totality everything that 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 navigate Lake Gatun 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 sought ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military ships 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 address the top priority of curbing mass migration that he outlined earlier this week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sworn in by Vice President JD Vance in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office 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 “we’re not going to continue to ignore the region like other administrations have done.”
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She added, “Collaborating with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing migration, supply chains and economic growth, which are critical to Secretary Rubio’s foreign policy efforts to make America strong, prosperous and secure.”
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
