Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump's desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal is driven by legitimate national security interests stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity and influence in the Arctic and in Latin America.

While repeating Trump’s lies about Panama, Senate leaders from both parties provide fraudulent justifications for a military intervention against the impoverished Central American country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Thursday that President Trump’s interest in taking control of Greenland and the Panama Canal “is not a joke” and vital to US national security interests. “This is not a joke,

Rubio defended Trump's proposed territorial expansions as a 'national interest,' while Denmark and Greenland firmly rejected offers amid concerns over potential military action.

By Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal is driven by legitimate national security interests stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity in the Arctic and in Latin America.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out discussing control over the Panama Canal in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is set to visit the Central American country in his first official trip abroad this weekend.

The Panama Canal’s future security may depend less on scrutinizing foreign presences and more on rekindling the kind of robust American partnership that made the Canal’s success possible in the first place.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he had "zero doubt" that China has a contingency plan to shut down the Panama Canal in the event of a conflict with the U.S. and that Washington intends to address what it sees as a national security threat.

Trump's new top maritime official Louis Sola tells CNBC 'all options on the table' to punish Panama and defend U.S. business, trade and national security.

Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal, the world's second busiest interoceanic waterway.