President Donald Trump's suggestion of the U.S. taking control of the Panama Canal has a legal basis partly due to potential treaty violations involving Chinese activities in Panama.

Trump has called for the U.S. to take back control of the Panama Canal, warning of heavy Chinese activity in the region.

President Trump said of the Panama Canal, “We’re taking it back.” The letter from Panama cited articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force.

Marco Rubio will head overseas late next week; he's also scheduled to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

In recent weeks, when he was President-elect Donald Trump publicly said that Panama should return the Panama Canal to the United States, and he would not rule out using military force to reclaim it. At his presidential Inauguration on Monday Trump doubled down on saying that his new administration was going to take back the canal.

Panama has owned and administered the Panama Canal for nearly three decades. President Trump wants to change that to counter growing Chinese influence in Latin America.

Trump argues Panama has broken a pledge of neutrality made when the United States transferred the canal to Panama in 1999, falsely claiming that China is operating it.

Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as secretary of State. The visit comes as Donald Trump looks to reclaim Panama's canal.

Panama has alerted the United Nations - in a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday - to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks during his inauguration speech, when he vowed that the United States would take back the Panama Canal.

Russia’s foreign ministry has called on Trump to reaffirm the current international agreement surrounding the Panama Canal and to leave it in control of the nation of Panama.

UNT Dallas political science professor outlines the implications of Trump’s threat to the Panama Canal. Trump’s suggestion that China controls the