Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has just announced that the US and Panama have signed a memo of understanding on cooperative security activities and will be signing a Joint Declaration on the security and operation of the canal.

Hegseth says this “is a framework for U.S. warships & auxiliary ships to sail first and free through the Panama Canal.”

President Trump wins again! It’s clear that his strategy was never to take the Panama by force, but to lay out a more extreme position in hopes of getting Panama’s attention and cooperation with US interests and to stop China’s control over the canal. And it worked.