Panama has also agreed to end an infrastructure agreement with China and conduct a financial audit of Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison Holdings, which controls ports on the canal’s opposite sides. Whether all of this will be enough to keep Trump happy and allow Panama not to worry about a full U.S. military takeover of the canal remains to be seen.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to get a close-up look at the Panama Canal on Tuesday, as he kicks off a rare visit to a Central American nation still unsettled by President Donald Trump's threats to take back the canal.

While visiting Panama this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not mention President Trump's pledge to take back the Panama Canal. Was it just a ploy to make Panama resolve to get tougher on China?