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State Dept.: U.S. vessels can travel through Panama Canal without paying fees

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The State Department announced that U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without paying fees, a move that could save millions annually. The decision comes amid ongoing concerns from President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over China’s influence in Panama.

Key Details:

  • The State Department confirmed Wednesday that U.S. government ships are exempt from transit fees when passing through the Panama Canal.
  • President Donald Trump has criticized Panama for imposing “exorbitant” fees on U.S. ships and has floated the idea of retaking control of the canal.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that the Trump administration could seize the Panama Canal if Panama is found to be violating its control agreement.

Diving Deeper:

The U.S. Department of State announced that American government vessels can now pass through the Panama Canal without being charged transit fees, a move expected to save the U.S. millions of dollars annually. The announcement, made via X on Wednesday, comes as tensions between the U.S. and Panama over canal control continue to escalate.

“U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year,” the State Department wrote.

President Donald Trump has long been vocal about Panama’s handling of the canal, accusing the country of overcharging American vessels while allowing Chinese influence to expand in the region. In December, Trump threatened to retake control of the Panama Canal, arguing that Panama has been “ripping off” the U.S. with excessive transit fees.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has firmly rejected Trump’s claims, stating, “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone belongs to Panama, and will continue to do so.” However, with mounting concerns over Chinese involvement in Panama, the issue has gained further attention within the Trump administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has echoed Trump’s concerns, suggesting that the U.S. could reclaim control of the canal if Panama is found to be in violation of the 1977 treaty that transferred authority over the waterway. Rubio recently indicated that the Trump administration is exploring its options regarding Panama’s management of the canal, particularly in light of China’s growing influence in the region.

The State Department’s move to eliminate transit fees for U.S. government vessels is the latest step in reinforcing America’s strategic interests in the Panama Canal. While the decision will ease financial burdens on U.S. government operations, broader geopolitical tensions surrounding the canal’s control remain unresolved.

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2025 Federal Election

RCMP memo warns of Chinese interference on Canadian university campuses to affect election

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police singled out China as the only nation of interest, noting that the ‘threat posed by the People’s Republic and its powerful security and intelligence apparatus’ remains a ‘concern.’

An internal briefing note from Canada’s top police force warned that agents of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) are targeting Canadian universities to intimidate them and in some instances challenge them on their “political positions.”

The December 3, 2024, memo titled On-Campus Foreign Interference from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) did not mention specific universities by name but noted that foreign interference was sophisticated and came solely from China.

The memo stated that as Canada’s academic institutions rely on “open, creative and collaborative environments” to foster independent debate, some “foreign intelligence services and government officials including the People’s Republic of China can exploit this culture of openness to monitor and coerce students, faculty and other university officials.”

“On university campuses foreign states may seek to exert undue influence, covertly and through proxies, by harassing dissidents and suppressing academic freedoms and free speech that are not aligned with their political interests,” the RCMP noted in the memo.

The memo noted that foreign agents’ influence in “public debate at academic institutions” may lead to them sponsoring “specific events to shape discussion rather than engage in free debate and dialogue.”

“They may also directly or indirectly attempt to disrupt public events or other on-campus activities they perceive as challenging their political positions and spread disinformation, undermining confidence in academic discourse and expertise,” the memo observed.

Notably, the memo singled out China, and thus the CCP, as the only nation of interest, noting that the “threat posed by the People’s Republic and its powerful security and intelligence apparatus including malign activities targeting our democratic institutions, communities and economic prosperity” remains a “concern.”

Some of the activities that foreign agents engaged included the recruitment of CCP sympathizers and “in some instances,” noted the memo, saw students be “pressured to participate in activities that are covertly organized by a foreign power.”

“Universities can also be used as venues for ‘talent spotting’ and intelligence collection in specific circumstances,” the memo stated.

According to hearings from a 2021 House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, there were numerous documented incidents of CCP intimidation.

For example, a Tibetan Canadian, Chemi Lhamo, testified she got death threats after she ran for student council president at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus.

“There were comments saying the bullet that would go through me was made in China,” she said, noting that “Community members of the allied nations who are subjected to the Chinese Communist Party’s colonial violence are not alien to these tactics. We have witnessed China’s interference and influence not just in our university campuses but also in our communities.”

Earlier this week, LifeSiteNews reported that Canada’s Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) confirmed the CCP government was behind an online “operation” on WeChat to paint Prime Minister Mark Carney in a positive light.

Canadians will head to the polls in a general election on April 28.

LifeSiteNews reported last week that the Liberal Party under Carney, has thus far seen no less than three MP candidates drop out of the election race over allegations of foreign interference.

LifeSiteNews recently reported how the Conservative Party sounded the alarm by sharing a 2016 video of Carney saying the Communist Chinese regime’s “perspective” on things is “one of its many strengths.”

As reported by LifeSiteNews, a new exposé by investigative journalist Sam Cooper claims there is compelling evidence that Carney and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are strongly influenced by an “elite network” of foreign actors, including those with ties to China and the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19

Biden Admin concealed report on earliest COVID cases from 2019

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Quick Hit:

A newly uncovered Defense Department report reveals that seven U.S. troops may have contracted COVID-19 during the 2019 World Military Games in Wuhan—months before the official pandemic timeline. The Biden administration kept the report from the public for over two years, despite a legal requirement to release it.

Key Details:

  • A December 2022 Pentagon report shows seven U.S. service members showed COVID-like symptoms after attending the 2019 Wuhan games.
  • The Biden administration withheld the report, which was required by law to be made public in 2022, until it was quietly posted online in March 2025.
  • Evidence contradicts Biden officials’ 2021 claims and adds weight to theories that COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab before December 2019.

Diving Deeper:

The Biden administration withheld a critical Pentagon report for more than two years, one that sheds new light on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, seven U.S. military service members may have contracted COVID-19 during or shortly after the 2019 World Military Games in Wuhan, China—a full two months before China officially acknowledged the outbreak.

The report, completed in December 2022, was mandated for public release by the National Defense Authorization Act. Yet, the administration only passed it to select Congressional committees and failed to make it publicly accessible as required. It wasn’t until March 2025 that the report quietly appeared on a Defense Department site under a section dedicated to “quality-of-life” issues—far from public view.

This revelation directly contradicts claims made by Biden administration officials in 2021, including then-Defense Department spokesman John Kirby, who stated there was “no knowledge” of any infections among the U.S. participants. The Trump administration had also denied early on that troops were tested or showed symptoms, citing the timing of the games before China’s outbreak announcement.

Held just miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology—where controversial, U.S.-funded gain-of-function research was conducted—the 2019 games have long drawn suspicion from national security and public health experts. Prominent biologist Dr. Richard Ebright told the Free Beacon the report confirms that COVID was already circulating and likely leaked from the Wuhan lab: “This new information strengthens U.S. and allied intelligence data.”

Adding more context, athletes from European countries such as France, Germany, and Italy also reported flu-like symptoms in Wuhan, describing the city at the time as unusually empty—a “ghost town.” All seven American service members recovered quickly, and the Pentagon has not revealed when it first became aware of the cases.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) called the report’s concealment an “outrage,” noting it directly undermines the long-promoted narrative that COVID began at a Wuhan wet market in December 2019. “Taxpayers deserve to know the truth,” she said. “This report should have been made public immediately.”

Congressional Republicans have consistently asserted that the Wuhan games were among the first super spreader events of the pandemic. In 2021, House Foreign Affairs Republicans issued findings supporting that theory. Meanwhile, multiple federal agencies—including the CIA, FBI, and Energy Department—now publicly believe COVID most likely originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

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