Summary

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino firmly rejected any negotiations over U.S. control of the Panama Canal, responding to Trump’s past remarks about reclaiming it.

Mulino clarified that Panama fully controls the canal, though a Hong Kong firm manages ports at both ends.

He aims to use U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to focus on shared interests like migration and drug trafficking.

The U.S. relinquished control of the canal in 1999 under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter.