Marco Rubio’s first official trip as secretary of State will be to one of several areas in the western hemisphere turned into a political football by his boss over the transition period.
The secretary will embark on a swing through Central America within the coming days, Politico first reported on Wednesday, including Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. His trip comes as President Donald Trump has threatened an international dispute over control of the Panama Canal.
The government of Panama, who have controlled the waterway since 1977, hiked fees beginning on January 1 after losing a third of their ship traffic in 2024, with droughts causing low water levels in the Canal and traffic jams.
This year, a regular vessel will have to pay $12,000 starting January 1 [2025] to reserve the right of passage through the canal. The figure is up $1,500 from the previous rate, according to business forcaster Kiplinger.
Any ship that arrives at the Canal and needs a last-minute reservation will face even higher penalties. A regular vessel will face a $25,000 tariff, more than double the normal rate, the outlet added.
Trump has said that he will “demand” the Canal’s return to the United States if Panamanian commerce authorities do not lower fees imposed on ships passing through the Canal.
“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way,” wrote the president on Truth Social in December. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.”
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.
He took the issue even further during his inaugural address on Monday, a free-wheeling diatribe during which the new president swiped at a broad range of political enemies.
“China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama,” said Trump during his speech, adding: “and we're taking it back."
During a press conference at his home in Florida, the president would not even rule out the use of military force to secure the territory, describing it as a national security interest. Trump used similar threats when discussing his persuit of Greeland.
What form the president’s “demand” will really take remains unclear. Panama’s government has said that it is not interested in negotiation over the Canal’s future — an almost identical response to the one Trump received from the governments of Greenland and Denmark over his territorial ambitions over the former.
“The Canal is and will remain Panama’s and its administration will remain under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality,” said president José Raúl Mulino in a statement.
Rubio has been in lockstep with his boss since his nomination, surviving an apparent purge of Magaworld’s arm at the State Department over the past several months and winning unanimous confirmation by the Senate (thanks to his ties to the D.C. foreign policy establishment and time as a senator) this week.
His lightning-fast confirmation comes as Trump publicly canned the conservative diplomat in charge of his State Department hiring effort and also stripped his security detail, doing the same to his former national security adviser John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, his first-term secretary of State.
His first trip abroad also comes as the administration is facing the question of whether to lean on Israel to maintain a shaky ceasefire in Gaza and how to bring a conclusive and palatable end to the war in Ukraine. In a rare pointed statement, the US president warned Russia’s government this week to expect new tough US sanctions and tariffs if it refuses to come to the negotiating table.
