U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met Panama's president on his first stop on his trip foreign trip as President Donald Trump is upping pressure on America's neighbors including a demand for the Panama Canal to be returned to the United States.

President Trump has made a “preliminary determination” that Chinese influence violates a treaty that assures the canal's neutrality, Rubio said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Panama’s president in a face-to-face meeting that the Central American ally must reduce alleged Chinese influence over the Panama Canal or the Trump administration will take “measures necessary” to do so.