"I've asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of, and memorialize, this situation!" the president wrote.

President Donald Trump has said U.S. ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel through the Panama Canal and Suez Canal free of charge. "Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America,

Trump has repeatedly vowed to take control of the Panama Canal over what he calls the unfair treatment of American firms.