Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to Panama City, Panama, on Monday, for a two-day visit to attend the 2025 Central American Security Conference and meet with American troops stationed there.

“The Secretary will meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings that will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

The Hong Kong-based conglomerate that operates ports near the Panama Canal has agreed to sell shares of its units that operate the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., after President Trump alleged Chinese interference with the operations of the critical shipping lane. 

A group of investors led by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is buying a majority stake in ports on both sides of the Panama Canal from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison for nearly $23 billion, the companies announces Tuesday.

The deal brings ownership of key Panama Canal ports back into American hands, making it a win for President Donald Trump, who has warned against the perils of China’s growing amount of influence over the canal.

A consortium of investors led by BlackRock has agreed to buy majority stakes in ports on both sides of the Panama Canal from CK Hutchison for $22.8 billion, the companies said Tuesday.

The deal would bring the key ports under American corporate ownership, from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. 

Officials in Panama are examining the possibility of canceling a deal with the Hong Kong-based company that operates ports along the Panama Canal as a way to ease the ongoing threats from President Donald Trump to seize the critical waterway, according to a new report in Bloomberg.

Teddy Roosevelt would presumably be pleased. 

President Trump spoke loudly and swung a big stick in Panama’s direction, and it produced instantaneous results on Sunday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the small Central American nation. 

Donald Trump has a special affinity for William McKinley, the former American president who was struck down by an assassin’s bullet in 1901, ending his second term before it really began. Trump has called his distant predecessor a “great but highly underrated” chief executive who made the United States wealthy by slapping tariffs on foreign goods. Whether or not this description is accurate, Trump genuinely believes it. Indeed, Trump feels so strongly about the man that he restored the name “Mount McKinley” to America’s highest peak during his first day in office. 

Panama offered to end its memorandum of understanding with China’s Belt and Road Initiative on Sunday after Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened possible retaliation if the Central American country didn’t work more closely with the U.S.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded Panama immediately reduce “unacceptable” Chinese “influence and control” over the Panama Canal.