The Trump administration's top diplomat Marco Rubio began his first foreign visit in Panama on Sunday, where he was set to meet Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino to discuss U.S. concerns about Chinese companies potentially affecting U.

PANAMA CITY — Marco Rubio’s weekend visit to Panama is set to offer clues to a pressing question: whether the next four years of American policy will more closely resemble an imperial conquest or a hardball real estate negotiation.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Panama’s president that the Central American ally must reduce Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the Trump administration.