President Donald Trump has only been in the Oval Office for a few weeks and he’s already managed to accomplish far more than many previous presidents in a four-year term. And the winning just keeps on coming too. The latest example of presidential victory comes from Panama, which is now offering free passage to U.S. Navy vessels traveling through the Panama Canal, following a meeting that took place between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday.
This was confirmed by an official within the Trump administration.
It’s being estimated that free passage through the Panama Canal will end up saving the U.S. somewhere between $2.5 million and $3 million a year. President Trump has made reducing the cost of using the canal a priority for the current administration. Back in December, the president ripped into Panama for charging what he called an “exorbitant” rate for the Navy to use the passage.
via The Daily Wire:
During a tour of the canal, the Panama Canal Authority told Rubio that it would work with the United States to “optimize transit priority of U.S. Navy vessels,” according to a statement from the authority. Fifty-two percent of transits through the canal have ports of origin or destinations in the United States, according to the authority. Rubio on Sunday gave Mulino an ultimatum over China’s growing influence over the Panama Canal in a face-to-face meeting.
According to State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce, Rubio informed Mulino that Trump has made a preliminary determination that the Chinese Communist Party’s “position of influence and control” over the Panama Canal is a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty,” the statement went on to say.
Mulino announced Sunday evening that his country had decided not to renew its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and would be looking for ways to end the agreement before the expiration date.
NEW: After meeting with @SecRubio today, Panama’s president announced the country will not be renewing its memo with China on its Belt and Road Initiative.
Panama will also look into ending the agreement earlier than the set end date. pic.twitter.com/g7WF0w9WhT
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) February 2, 2025
“One important thing, which is a decision I made and communicated to him, is that the 2017 memorandum of understanding on the Silk Road, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, will not be renewed by my government,” Mulino explained. “We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be ended earlier or not.”
President Trump has been applying a healthy amount of pressure to Panama to get them to reduce the amount of Chinese influence over the canal or risk the U.S. getting down and dirty to retake control of it.
“Trump argued that this influence could result in the canal being closed off to the United States, posing a threat to national security and violating the treaty. He also pointed out that the United States was instrumental in building the canal, with many Americans losing their lives during its construction,” the Daily Wire said in its report.
In 1999, the U.S. ceded the canal to Panama as part of a 1977 treaty that was put in place by former President Jimmy Carter.
“Mulino has maintained that Panama controls the canal despite a Hong Kong company operating ports at both sides of the canal,” the report concluded.