The Trump administration has formally asked Pentagon officials for “credible military options” to ensure unfettered American access to the Panama Canal, one of several new directives outlined in what amounts to a major overhaul of US strategic priorities, according to a new memo that was sent to senior leaders and reviewed by CNN.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the US needs to reclaim the canal, most notably during his recent speech before Congress, but his administration has now formally requested potential military options for doing so, the memo from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reveals.
Among the directives defense officials were instructed to execute “immediately” is: “Provide credible military options to ensure fair and unfettered US military and commercial access to the Panama Canal,” according to copy of the document reviewed by CNN, titled “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” the memo represents a marked shift in Pentagon priorities compared to the directive it replaces – the 2022 National Defense Strategy – and aligns with Trump’s publicly stated goals like using military assets at the US border, reinforcing the United States’ presence in the Western Hemisphere and, otherwise, maintaining a nearly singular focus on China.
The memo also states that the US military’s “foremost priority” is to defend the homeland, and instructs the Pentagon to “seal our borders, repel forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities, and deport illegal aliens in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the copy reviewed by CNN.
Trump has made clear that he intends to redirect the military’s focus to border operations, but the guidance issued to senior Pentagon officials codifies that as the new administration’s top priority.
The order for military options ensuring “unfettered” US access to the Panama Canal will likely raise major questions.
Just last week, Panama’s President José Raul Mulino accused Trump of lying in his speech before Congress by saying the US had begun to reclaim the Panama Canal.
Mulino wrote on X one day after Trump’s speech that none of his conversations with US officials have covered the US reclaiming the canal
“Once again, President Trump lies. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery, and much less is it a task that has been discussed in our conversations with Secretary Rubio or with anyone else,” Mulino wrote.
“I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation,” Mulino continued.
Trump’s remarks came after the US firm BlackRock and a consortium of investors announced a deal to buy two ports at either end of the canal from a Hong Kong-based firm whose ownership had seemed to become the focus of Trump’s concern.
Since its handover in 1999 the canal itself has been operated by Panama, not China, despite Trump’s claims.
But the DoD memo’s reference to military options fits with the broader theme of a planning document that appears intended to reinforce Trump’s publicly stated objectives.
