The speed with which the Trump 2.0 administration is racking up foreign policy achievements is really a testament to just how fecklessly weak the Biden administration was.

First, Colombia did some finding out. Then Venezuela not only handed over Americans that they were holding, but agreed to take back Tren de Aragua gang members as well. Now, Panama is coming to a new understanding with the United States over the canal, after a visit by new Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Did I mention that Donald Trump has only been back in office for two weeks? TWO. WEEKS.

Rubio, on his first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat, held face-to-face talks with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who has resisted pressure from the new U.S. government over Panama’s management of a waterway that is vital to global trade.

Mulino told reporters after the meeting that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”

The Panama Canal was turned over to Panama in 1999. The treaty that led to that handover calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal, though what constitutes neutrality is not clearly defined.

“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.

Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said he did not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.”

He acknowledged that China’s role in the ports at either end of the canal has raised concerns with Washington. But the president said the consortium controlling them was being audited and that the canal authority would give Rubio a more detailed explanation.

Rubio also got a tour of the Panama Canal itself.

And at the end of this meeting, President Mulino had this to say about their agreements with China regarding the Panama Canal.

NEW: After meeting with @SecRubio today, Panama’s president announced the country will not be renewing its memo with China on its Belt and Road Initiative.

Panama will also look into ending the agreement earlier than the set end date. pic.twitter.com/g7WF0w9WhT

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) February 2, 2025

Panama’s president vowed Sunday to end a key development deal with China after meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and after complaints from President Donald Trump that the Latin American country had ceded control over its critical shipping canal to Beijing.

José Raúl Mulino, Panama’s president, said his nation’s sovereignty over the 51-mile waterway, which connects the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, will remain unchanged. But he said he would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s Belt and Road global development initiative and that Panama would instead look to work more closely with the U.S.

“I think this visit opens the door to build new relations … and try to increase as much as possible U.S. investments in Panama,” Mulino told reporters after meeting with Rubio on his first international trip since being confirmed.

That “Belt and Road” initiative by China has been ongoing since 2013, and has been a way for China to sink its tentacles into different countries with offers of trade and economic support. To have Panama back off of their “understanding” with China, and to react so quickly to the Trump administration’s pointed reminder that the canal is treaty-bound to be “neutral,” are both encouraging signs – and prompted cheers and praise for the efforts of Rubio and Trump back here in the United States.

National security experts in and out of Congress hailed Rubio’s success in Panama. Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) lauded the move. “Buh bye, China,” he said. “Keep your Belt and Road out of the Americas.”

“Way to go Secretary Rubio,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.), a top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said of Rubio’s achievement. “China has seen much too much influence here in the Western Hemisphere. Now on to Africa and other spots around the world.”

Bonnie Glick, a former senior official in the Trump administration noted to the Reporter that “China has been encroaching on the western hemisphere under the Biden administration. Secretary Rubio‘s first trip is to Latin America and serves to remind our neighbors in the western hemisphere that they are better off partnering with Washington than with Beijing.”

The Hudson Institute’s Michael Sobolik agreed: “This is a huge win for America,” he said. “Panama was the First Nation in Latin America to join the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017. It did so mere months after switching diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing. Secretary Rubio is already off to a strong start.”

America First.

This is our hemisphere not China’s. https://t.co/NrJFGRHmbU

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 2, 2025

Perhaps we now have the development of a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, given the reaction to Trump 2.0 that we are currently seeing within Latin America and South America. Something along the lines of “we are the biggest player in this hemisphere, and you WILL listen when we come calling.” If Teddy Roosevelt said to “speak softly and carry a big stick,” Donald Trump seems to be informing the leaders of these countries exactly where he will put that stick if they decide to cross American interests. And my word, is showing up and demonstrating some strength making a HUGE difference. Richard Grenell kindly pointed that out on X to a former Biden administration official on Saturday, after his return from Venezuela.

Of course it’s inconceivable for someone from the Biden team…

They made chaos around the world because they didn’t show up or lead. There isn’t a region of the world that was safer after 4 years of Joe Biden’s Administration. https://t.co/ly16yWs1Dn

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) February 1, 2025

It’s amazing what deciding to lead can do. The difference between these administrations is quickly becoming as stark as the difference between winter and summer.

Maybe we should rework the old palindrome about the Panama Canal to fit the current win. “A man, a plan, a canal, TRUMP” sounds good.

Featured image: Panama Canal via jhernandezb05 on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license