Panama has vehemently denied claims made by the US on Thursday that its government vessels would have free passage through the Panama Canal, calling the US claims “lies and falsehoods”.

Hong Kong CNN — Donald Trump has begun his second term as president by ramping up pressure on Panama – threatening to “take back” the Panama Canal and accusing the country of ceding ...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has walked back the State Department’s assertion that Panama “has agreed to no longer charge fees” to US government vessels transiting the Panama Canal ...

President Trump appeared to double down on his threats to seize the Panama Canal, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Panama with an ultimatum from the White House. Photo: Ben Curtis/Asso ...

The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the U.S. had cited progress on military cooperation and confronting alleged Chinese influence over the canal.

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a ...

Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S ...

The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the US cited progress on military cooperation and alleged Chinese influence over the canal. Later, Mr Mulino added ...

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday rejected U.S. claims that American warships and boats can transit the Panama Canal without paying a standard fee. In a weekly news conference ...