Panama's president denies making a deal that US warships can transit the canal for free

Panama President José Raúl Mulino has rejected the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free. Mulino said Thursday he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department’s statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday.