Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will journey to Panama for his first worldwide journey because the nation’s prime diplomat, Fox Information has discovered.
Although particulars are nonetheless being labored out, the go to may come as early as subsequent week.
The deliberate journey comes after repeated vows by President Donald Trump – who returned to the White Home on Monday – to take again the Panama Canal.
Trump talked about the Panama Canal once more throughout his inaugural handle on Monday, claiming that it was now within the fingers of China and vowing to take it again.
MARCO RUBIO CLASHES WITH NBC ‘TODAY’ HOST WHEN PRESSED ON TRUMP’S JAN. 6 PARDONS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President JD Vance within the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Workplace within the Eisenhower Govt Workplace Constructing on the White Home campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photograph/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 mentioned.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded forcefully to Trump’s feedback on Wednesday saying, “we reject in its 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.”
The Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas (L) and the Portuguese cargo ship MSC Elma sail on Gatun Lake close to the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon Metropolis, Panama, on December 28, 2024. (ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
The U.S. constructed the canal within the early 1900s underneath then President Theodore Roosevelt because it appeared for tactics to facilitate the transit of business and army vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished management of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, underneath a treaty signed in 1977 by then President Jimmy Carter.
TRUMP WARNS FEMA FACES A RECKONING AFTER BIDEN ADMIN: ‘NOT DONE THEIR JOB’
Information of Rubio’s journey was first reported by Politico and will embrace different Central American nations like Guatemala and El Salvador, the place Rubio is anticipated to handle a prime precedence of curbing mass migration that he outlined earlier this week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sworn by Vice President JD Vance within the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Workplace within the Eisenhower Govt Workplace Constructing on the White Home campus, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, as his spouse, Jeanette Rubio, appears on. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
State Division spokeswoman Tammy Bruce tells Fox Information that “Secretary Rubio is prioritizing the region because it’s where we live,” including “we won’t continue to ignore the region as other administrations have.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
She 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 foreign policy focused on making America strong, prosperous, and safe.”
Fox Information Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Related Press contributed to this report.
