Panama's leader has been pushing back hard on President Trump's insistence on "reclaiming" the Panama Canal for the United States, going so far as to accuse him of lying, but that hasn't stopped Trump from moving forward with his ultimate plans for the Central American waterway. Per CNN, the Trump administration has officially asked the Department of Defense to draw up "credible military options to ensure fair and unfettered US military and commercial access" to the canal, as detailed by a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that he disseminated to senior Pentagon leadership.
NBC News, which first reported on the White House's request for military options, cites two US officials in noting that US Southern Command is also working up plans to team up with Panamanian security forces, with a Trump administration goal of restricting China's influence there. According to those officials, "whether military force is used" by the US to seize the canal—operated by Panama since the US fully turned over control in 1999—"depends on how much Panamanian security forces agree to partner with the United States," the outlet reports. Reuters notes, however, that "any move by a foreign power to take the canal by force would almost certainly violate international law."
Per CNN, the memo's interim guidance also alludes to the Trump administration's plans to cut down on the United States' military presence in Europe and curtail assistance to Ukraine. "Americans want allies—not dependents," Hegseth wrote. The memo also directs the Pentagon to "seal our borders; repel forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities; and deport illegal aliens in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security," per CNN. Hegseth, meanwhile, is set to make a trip to Panama in April. Much more here. (More Panama Canal stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
