Panamanian police on Friday fired tear gas and clashed with protesters angered by Donald Trump's threat to take control of the Panama Canal, ahead of a visit this weekend by the US president's top diplomat.

A simmering diplomatic stand-off over deportation flights spilled onto social media Sunday, threatening the once close relationship between the US and Colombia and further exposing the anxiety many feel in Latin America towards a second Trump presidency.

More than 100 years after the construction of the engineering marvel that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans — and 25 years after the canal was returned to Panama by the US — the Panama Canal faces renewed intimidation from US President Donald Trump.

At this pace, the newly inaugurated Republican president should be able to alienate just about every other country on the planet by, say, mid-summer.

President Trump is flexing his muscle just a week into his presidency, using tariffs and sanctions as a leverage tool to enact his agenda, even when it involves U.S. allies. Trump caused a stir

Donald Trump claimed an early victory for a coercive foreign policy based on tariffs and hard power on Sunday after announcing Colombia had backed down in a dispute over migrant repatriation flights.

He added: “We don’t have an army.” In 1903, Panama was a restive department of Colombia, with many Panamanians advocating openly for independence from a central government on the other side ...

Felipe Chapman and Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Martínez-Acha discussed Trump’s claim over the canal at the International Economic Forum Latin America and the Caribbean

Marco Rubio’s choice of Latin America for his first trip abroad as top US diplomat reinforces two of President Donald Trump’s priorities early in his second term — deportations and securing the Panama Canal from perceived Chinese control.