Panama’s president accused the Trump administration of lying about a pact to provide the U.S. Navy unfettered access to the Panama Canal, escalating tensions over the canal’s future after Trump threatened to seize it. The diplomatic breakdown began Wednesday night when the State Department posted on X that Panama had agreed to allow U.S. government vessels free canal passage, startling Panama. The announcement follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino in Panama City this week to negotiate concessions for Trump.

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