Pete Hegseth omitted a key point about the Panama Canal in the English version of a joint statement he released with the Panamanian leader.
The tattooed former Fox News star traveled to Panama for talks with Panama’s government, becoming the first U.S. defense secretary to visit the Central American country in decades.
His visit came amid mounting tensions sparked by President Donald Trump’s claims that Panama was “severely” overcharging for ships transiting the U.S.-built canal. He has also claimed that China controlled the waterway and has pledged that Washington would take it back.
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Panama President José Raúl Mulino and Hegseth released a joint statement following their talks, the Spanish version of which included the line: “Secretary Hegseth recognized the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.”
That detail was nowhere to be seen in the English-language version released by the Pentagon, the Associated Press first reported.
It’s unclear whether the Hegseth’s apparent recognition of Panama’s control over the historically contested waterway was intentionally omitted.
Both versions note that the officials reaffirmed the historic security relationship between the Republic of Panama and the United States of America and that they agreed to continue strengthening bilateral security cooperation.
When approached for comment, a Pentagon spokesperson didn’t elaborate on why the two versions differed, but instead redirected the Daily Beast to Hegseth’s comments during a joint press briefing With Panamanian Public Security Minister Frank Abrego in Panama City on Wednesday, where he said: “[w]e certainly understand that the Panama Canal is in Panama, and protecting Panamanian sovereignty from malign influence is important. Which is why when President Trump says we’re taking back the Panama Canal from Chinese influence, that involves partnership with the United States and Panama. And we’re grateful that they’ve welcomed US troops on Panamanian soil by invitation through rotational joint exercises.”
Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. and Panama “have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades.”
“China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area,” the defense secretary said.
“That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable.”
In December, Trump threatened to retake the canal “or something very powerful is going to happen.”
In a commentary in March for Harvard Kennedy School, economic development scholar Ricardo Hausmann said of Trump’s threats to take back the canal and of his claims that his country is being overcharged, that “it’s not that the United States is being unfairly treated, it’s that it is not being preferentially treated.”
“I would argue that’s what Trump doesn’t like,” he said.
“A treaty is a treaty, right? That’s why you have to have a two-thirds majority approval in the Senate. One of the conditions of the treaty is creating neutrality in the Panama Canal. The United States has to pay the same as anybody else even though it built the canal.
