# On-the-Record Briefing on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s First Trip to the Western Hemisphere

State.gov special briefing January 31, 2025
MR CLAVER-CARONE: Thank you so much, Mignon, for the introduction, and thank you for everyone for joining us. Look, this is a truly historic visit that Secretary Rubio will be paying to the region. I can’t stress enough the historic nature of this visit and how it harkens back to President Trump’s overall message during his inauguration of the golden age of the Americas. This is the first time – and I stress for everyone to please read Secretary Rubio’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal today – this is the first time that the Secretary of State, that the U.S. Secretary of State, his first visit – his or her first visit to anywhere in the world is to Latin America, for the first time in over a hundred years. Last time that happened I believe was in 1912, when Philander Chase Knox went to Panama to watch – to oversee the conclusion of the Panama Canal’s construction and operations at the time. And what a great message to harken back to that golden age of the Americas, as President Trump himself has mentioned.
When – if you go back to the inauguration speech with President Trump, he talked about, obviously, President McKinley, American greatness, and the Panama Canal was referenced. This was a time that began to set the framework for what ultimately became the 20th century as a great American century. And now, harkening back to President Trump and his notion and his efforts for, again, the reinstating of America’s golden age, and having frankly the most experienced senior policy team ever in the history of the United States Government on the Americas, it goes to show really the focus and the priority that President Trump has given to the region, and the fact that that’s led by our Secretary of State, the first Hispanic secretary of state, who knows the region like no one – like no one else, inside-out, is really historic in that nature.
What we’re focused on in this trip and what I think the message to harken back to that is as well, 20 years ago people were talking about whether the 21st century was going to be a Chinese century or an American century. And a lot of these experts – and I harken back, again, to what actually Secretary Rubio yesterday in his interview with Megyn Kelly talked about a lot of experts and foreign policy experts that write a lot, and frankly seem not to know what they’re talking about – but 20 years ago, if you read a lot of the materials out there, there was really a lot about, oh, is this going to be the Chinese century, because America was in decline and China was on the rise. And what President Trump began and what he’s focused on with his golden age and with this trip signifies that harkens back to that and that era of American greatness and the golden age is that the 21st century will also be an American century. And that’s what the focus – and America can’t – just like in the 20th century, it begins right here. It begins right here in where we live, in the hemisphere we live. It begins right here, harkening back to what made America great – the growth, the manufacturing growth of America, the reindustrialization of America, and frankly the great assets that America has built across the world, and in this case particularly the Panama Canal.
The trip will begin in Panama, where the Secretary will meet with, obviously, President Mulino, and will also visit the Panama Canal and visit with the Panama Canal administrator during this trip. Various issues will be discussed, including obviously the canal; also the cooperation on migration. On that issue, Panama has been very helpful in dealing with its border, Darién border, in regards to expatriating a lot of the folks from not only South America but from throughout the world that use the Darién border with Colombia in order to come and try to make it – the route up to the United States. We have a very successful repatriation program with Panama that frankly should be expanded, and obviously that’ll be a focus on the conversation.
But also a focus on the conversation will obviously be the Panama Canal, and obviously the President has made that an important issue and a priority to be discussed, and how at the end of the day this extraordinarily strategic asset that the United States built and handed over to Panama – to ensure that during that process, particularly going back to the handover of the canal in 1999, to ensure that we’ve seen in the increasing growth of China, which has been expounded by the Varela government in – with this recognition of Beijing of a few years back in 2018 and then this increasingly creeping presence of Chinese companies and actors throughout the Canal Zone – and everything from force and logistics to telecommunications, infrastructure, and otherwise – which is very concerning not only, frankly, to the national security of the United States, but frankly to the national security of Panama and to the entire Western Hemisphere. So that’ll be an issue of discussion.
Pursuant to that – to Panama, the – Secretary Rubio will be traveling to El Salvador. We’ll – he’ll visit with President Bukele. As many of you know, the first phone call to a leader in the Western Hemisphere by President Trump and the second globally was to President Bukele of El Salvador, who is not only the most popular leader in the Western Hemisphere from an approval ratings perspective, but the reason he’s so – has become so popular is just because of the extraordinary measures that have been taken in the country on security. Just decades ago – it was just a decade ago San Salvador was the murder capital of the world, and today it’s one of the safest cities in the world. And those extraordinary measures, which are frankly the envy of a lot of countries throughout the Western Hemisphere, has really made him one of the most consequential leaders not only on security but a great ally on migration. During the first Trump Administration, El Salvador was one of three countries that had a Safe Third Agreement with the United States, which will also be a topic of discussion. And what’s also been out there in the news quite a bit is his extraordinary handling of the MS-13 gang problem, how he’s managed it in El Salvador, and frankly how that can also be an alternative to help and support the United States in dealing with the most current gang problem that we have, which are the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gangs and how they can – and how President Bukele can help us there. All of those will be issues of discussion with President Bukele during the Secretary’s trip.
After that, we’ll go to Costa Rica, where the President will meet with President Chaves – also a great ally of the United States. President Chaves has been – was also a country that had changed its recognition towards China. President Chaves has been a great leader in that country in regards to recognizing the threat that China poses in that country, but also on the migration front has been a great ally in ensuring that kind of the residuals from Panama as it goes further up continues to not only maintain – but akin to Panama, one of the subjects of discussion will be a repatriation program with Costa Rica to help with not only those that are coming up from South America but those that are coming from throughout the world, extracontinentals that are coming through and how they can help repatriate in that manner.
Also an issue of great importance to Costa Rica that will be discussed is the challenges with Nicaragua on its border, and obviously there with the Ortega dictatorship in Nicaragua, which there’s probably no country along with the United States more affected in that regards than Costa Rica, and – due to the border and the challenges that it faces as well. And that’ll be a subject of discussion with President Chaves there.
Then we’ll go to Guatemala, where he’ll meet with President Arévalo. Guatemala has been – this is a new government, still newish government in Guatemala where the relationships are being strengthened and built but has thus far frankly in two weeks has turned out to be an extraordinary ally particularly in helping us deal with migration issues. They have been taking – been very supportive of flights, including military flights, in order to repatriate Guatemalans, and we look forward to deepening those discussions. And Guatemala is still also one of the countries in the region that recognizes Taiwan, and obviously the United States is grateful for its support in regards for – to Taiwan. And there’s a lot of – there’s a lot of kinship in regards to a lot of these issues there so we look forward to expanding with Guatemala the discussions on how to continue to support us on migration, and obviously countering Chinese influence throughout the region.
And the final stop will be the Dominican Republic, where we’ll discuss – obviously with President Abinader in the Dominican Republic, the Secretary will discuss other challenges. The Dominican Republic is one of our greatest, if not our greatest, ally in the Caribbean; in that regards, has also been the country most affected by the challenges and frankly the vacuum created by the previous administration in Haiti which has led to frankly chaos in Haiti. There’s a – Dominican Republic is the most challenged across its border. It’s not only a tremendous cost for the Dominican Republic, but they’ve had to deal with a tremendous migration crisis whereby they’re having to repatriate about 250,000 Haitians per year, and it’s an extraordinary challenge, and we seek to continue support to them, along with counter-narcotics. It’s very important for Dominican Republic in that regards to step up. It is – the Caribbean had become in the past a transit point, and they have been great allies in this regards.
Now, if you really look at these – the significance of these five countries, that these are all overall allies of the United States, obviously where we seek to deepen and strengthen cooperation in all of these. And if you look at El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and you look at President Bukele, President Chaves, and President Abinader – Dominican Republic – these are the three most – when you look at popularity rating-wise, these are three of the most popular leaders – I would say three out of five most popular leaders in the Western Hemisphere. And their popularity stems from the success they’ve had in their country, their strong alliance with the United States; the strong, courageous measures they’ve taken in their own countries to combat corruption, to combat – to really fight security, to open up their markets, and really to foment better lives for their citizens.
We consider these key allies across the board, and again, when we talk about the golden age of America, we’re looking at the golden age of the Americas, and consistent with our policies in the 20th century which led to the America – the American century in the 20th century, we are leaving – pursuant to President Trump’s directive, Secretary Rubio is going to be making very clear and very showing that if there’s any doubt of, like, the issues that have been talked about for the past – even during the first Trump Administration, where President Trump courageously, for the first time in five prior presidencies, pivoted – pivoted – on China, pivoted our foreign policy on China when everyone thought that China was literally going to become the most influential force throughout the Americas. This is a re-pivot of the golden age of America, of the Americas, to leave unequivocally, without a doubt, that the 21st century, akin to the 20th century, will be an American century.
MS HOUSTON: Excellent. Special Envoy, thank you so much for that great overview of what we can expect during the trip. We are fortunate now to also have the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State joining us, Ms. Tammy Bruce. At this point I will hand the floor over to our spokesperson for a few words as well.
MS BRUCE: Hi, everyone. Thank you, Mignon. It’s – I am very excited as, of course, we have a new administration. I’m the new spokesperson, and this will be my first trip with the Secretary, as it is for all of us. It is – I’m a native Californian. Of course, we know – and it’s why I was particularly pleased with the attitude and the approach of the Secretary when we were asked earlier by media about why Central America. We tend to look to Europe, of course. We tend to look to Asia. But the fact of the matter is this is where we live. This is who we are. This is about not just wanting to have new partnerships – but that’s always good – but the nature of what it means to have an extended relationship with the people closest to you. It’s valuable in dealing with, certainly, the issues that cross our borders when it comes to the supply chain, the economy, stability in general, the relationship that can come from dealing with problems, but also expanding on opportunities and the nature of what can be accomplished when you actually sit down, talk with people, when you have the – focusing on what we have in common and the issues, of course, that we all want to deal with to get resolved.
We certainly – and I know the Secretary feels this way that this is – when we think of America first, of course, it’s not America alone by any imagination. But it is also a recognition that relationships and partnerships across the board on every issue that matters to all of these nations, it can only become better or resolved or expanded upon when we take the time, sit down at the table – and not just in a moment when there’s an urgent situation, and that will always occur. But when you know people and – but they understand the nature of what our goals are and where we meet each other on the field, it makes a huge difference for communication, for how things gets resolved.
And there’s so much that’s done with social media, right? We’ve all seen that. But with social media, you don’t see a smile, you don’t see body language, you don’t hear tone. And I think this is why technology, while it’s wonderful and we’re able to get a lot done with that, the fact is these kinds of visits – the nature of the commitment of Secretary Rubio for America relies on the nature of our relationships with these countries as well.
And there’ll be political issues always, but there’s really – what it all comes down to are the social realities of the fact that we aren’t alone, we shouldn’t be alone; that the problems we all experience can be resolved by working together and the creativity and the ideas for expansion of economic growth, for prosperity, right, for individual people. The dreams of Americans and the dreams of Panamanians or those in the Dominican Republic or in Costa Rica, wherever you are – Salvador – are the same. It’s the same thing. We think about our families. We think about our children. What is tomorrow going to look like? If something happened, could we rely on our next-door neighbor to come over and give us a hand? This is now a new age, that it is not America issuing orders. It’s an America that is moving forward knowing that it is partnerships that matter on every issue. It is a commitment. That’s why this is the first trip, to make that point.
But of course, the Secretary will be making that point in a variety of different ways with all of the people that he meets – the workers, the leaders in these nations, the people who are getting us on and off a plane. The importance of the individual moving through their lives in whatever country you’re in, it is the same desire about making enough money to pay our rent, getting back home to our families, being able to know that your daughter or son’s life is going to be better than your life. And I know that Secretary Rubio wants this country to be a part of that for all of us.
So I am – I can’t tell you how excited I am about his leadership and his commitment, but also what this trip is going to look like. And so I’m thrilled to be here, and I just want to say thank you.
MS HOUSTON: Wonderful. Thank you, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
At this time, we will open the floor for questions. We hope to get through as many as we can, so please make them brief if possible, and also use the “raise your hand” feature to be called upon. And remember to unmute yourself before speaking.
We will begin with Nora Gámez Torres from the Miami Herald. Nora, please unmute yourself. The floor is yours.
QUESTION: Thank you so much for doing this, and thank you so much, Mauricio, for doing this conference. Quick question – we just learned about this expected meeting by Special Envoy Richard Grenell with Nicolás Maduro today in Venezuela. So I wonder: How do you square that with Secretary’s – Rubio longstanding criticism of negotiations with Maduro, and if you think this potential negotiation with the Maduro regime kind of undercuts the strong message Secretary Rubio wants to project in this trip? Thank you so much.
MR CLAVER-CARONE: Thank you for the – thank you, Nora. Let me just first and foremost add something to Tammy’s remarks, which were excellent. Just to highlight – from migration to security to commerce, there’s no other region in the world that affects individual American lives more on a daily basis than the Western Hemisphere. And that’s why team-wise, that’s why in the golden age notion of President Trump, he’s prioritized the Americas in this administration, and that’s why you’re seeing the Secretary’s first trip be to the region.
In regards to Ric’s visit to Venezuela, let me just – Ric is the special envoy for special missions, and he is there on a special mission, and that special mission is very specific. That very – a specific special mission, which is one, that the United States and President Trump expects Nicolás Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to United States and to do so unequivocally and without condition, first and foremost, as we would expect any other country in the world, and that is non-negotiable in that sense; and two, that American hostages that are being held in Venezuela not only are unacceptable, but that they must be released immediately.
That doesn’t change President Trump and – President Trump’s priorities, which he himself has said in regards to Venezuela and what he would like to see. It doesn’t change the Secretary’s position, obviously, in regards to Venezuela and the priorities of the United States in that regards, and obviously the recognition of elections, the recognition of democracy and democratic change in Venezuela. It focuses on two very specific issues: that we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are to every country in the world, without conditions; and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally. This is not a quid pro quo. It is not a negotiation in exchange for anything.
President Trump himself has made very clear we don’t need Venezuelan oil, that we – all the oil we need is right here in the United States, and as a matter of fact that’s why the President’s energy plan is focused on continuing to make the United States energy independent, as he did the first term, and making it ultimately a net exporter in that regards.
So again, two very specific issues, and all I would do on this call is urge the Maduro government, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, to heed to Special Envoy Ric Grenell’s message and to his demands and what he puts on the table, because ultimately there will be consequences otherwise.
MS HOUSTON: Great. Thank you so much. Our next question goes to Nick Schifrin from PBS. Nick, we invite you to begin your question at this time.
QUESTION: Hey, guys, thanks so much for doing this. Mauricio, two questions related to Panama. Wondering if you could just expand on what the Secretary said yesterday in his Megyn Kelly interview. He pointed out two things. He believed that if China wanted to obstruct traffic in the canal, they could, and also talked about the costs for American ships going through. What kinds of asks are you asking for, or what kind of expectations are you asking for out of the Panamanian Government on those two specific things?
And the Secretary also said, in regards to Greenland, a lot of stuff is done publicly and it’s not helpful because it puts the other side in a tough spot domestically. Are you concerned at all that some of the tough talk on Panama publicly boxes them in given privately they do want to help you guys on other issues? Thanks
MR CLAVER-CARONE: Look, I think President Trump has put a very important issue on the table, which has only gotten worse. In 1997 there was a Senate report that talked about the Hutchison ports on each side, Cristobal and Balboa. And at the time, because basically it was looking at whether the handover should continue because whether these companies were a threat to U.S. national security, et cetera. And the conclusion was that these were Hong Kong companies at the time. This was 1997. Handover happens 1999. There’s – unquestionably today those companies, Hutchison and those two ports, are under control of the Chinese Government – unquestionably. So that changes completely the dynamic.
And when President Varela recognized China in 2018, it wasn’t just a diplomatic recognition. He literally opened the floodgates and gave strategic assets throughout the Canal Zone to China, including, by the way, which was – well, including by the way – and I won’t re-harken kind of in the first administration of the Trump Administration what we did – including, by the way, he wanted to give them in one of the prime locations on the Canal Zone and prior U.S. property an embassy in the highest peaks. Literally they can have free range for espionage.
Of course, he also gave them smart cities, brought in Huawei throughout the realm, other Chinese ports are developed, other assets – a bridge, obviously that we’re aware of, obviously there was rail. I mean, really throughout the conglomerate of logistics in the Panama Canal the Varela administration – and by the way, again, this is not President Mulino’s fault. This was President Varela’s fault in 2018. He just now has to deal with it because it got completely out of hand. It got completely out of hand.
So we see China’s presence in the Panama Canal – and the President has made it very clear – as not only a threat to the United States national security but to that of Panama itself and ultimately to that of the region. And that needs to be addressed, right?
But moreover, what makes it even more susceptible is on the cost issue and on the maintenance issue. Look, when I was in the White House National Security Council in the first Trump Administration, the Panamanian Canal Authority kept asking us and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for help because they knew the looming problem. People keep saying it was climate change, it’s climate change. B.S. The problems that were faced during COVID ultimately had not – yes, there was a drought, and – but it wasn’t climate change. They knew that these issues were coming. The maintenance was not being upkept as it needed to be. The salination of the water in the lake was happening, and they kept asking us for help in dealing with it because they didn’t know how to deal with it.
So the President has made it very clear that it hasn’t been well-maintained in that sense. And indeed, if the United States is going to help Panama do so, it can’t charge the United States for doing so and then go up and raise prices and raise costs, which overwhelmingly affect the United States, its manufacturers, exporters, and its consumers in that regards because that wasn’t our fault. That supposedly – under the treaty, that maintenance is supposed to be under their issue.
And then finally, the United States under the treaty is focused on – and basically the security of the canal falls upon the United States and Panama. And then to have – essentially charge us for our naval military vessels to cross the canal is also adding insult to injury. It has brought another issue to the table.
So the President has brought three – as he usually tends to do – very common-sense, practical, important issues to the table. And now those issues need to be addressed, and those conversations will be had, and obviously Secretary Rubio will be digging into all of those. But this is a key issue because, at the end of the day, this is a key, important, strategic asset. And obviously, if the 21st century, akin to the 20th century, is going to be an American century and a golden age of the Americas, that strategic asset cannot be under the control, whether de facto or de jure, of China.
MS HOUSTON: Okay, excellent. Next up we have Matt Foldi from the Washington Reporter. Matt, we turn it over to you at this time.
QUESTION: Hello. Can you hear me?
MS HOUSTON: Yes, we can.
QUESTION: Thank you, guys, for doing this call. I’m curious. Could you talk some more about the actions that we saw with Colombia right off the bat from Secretary Rubio, maybe some of the back story of what created this kerfuffle and how you see that interaction and I think the subsequent success that this had in forming the administration’s foreign policy in Latin America and also beyond?
MR CLAVER-CARONE: It was very simple. The United States had reached an agreement with Colombia to obviously repatriate its citizens. The Colombian Government agreed to use military aircraft, and it signed so. Like, there’s – essentially there’s the flight information, everything. They knew exactly what they were getting into.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, for whatever reason, the president, President of Colombia, decided to tweet and turn one of the planes around. And obviously that’s going to have consequences. And the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio in reacting to that was unprecedented. I have – I served in the first administration. I’ve seen it. There has never – on a Sunday from the morning to the evening, the leadership of the State Department, the fact that the State Department immediately closed down the Consular Affairs section in Bogota, literally canceled 1,500 appointments, sent shockwaves through the government. That was done on Sunday morning immediately, thanks to the leadership of Secretary Rubio.
And that type of leadership of not thinking – and I think the Secretary just made this point yesterday in this interview – not thinking, writing 25 memos, getting 50,000 approvals, going through this endless bureaucracy. No, that quick thinking, the quick action followed by the White House’s movements to then prepare the executive order on the tariffs in order for – by CBP and DHS for expediting inspections. This whole government – I mean, when President – this is a dream team, like what Secretary Rubio – under the President’s leadership, Secretary Rubio first but then with Secretary Noem and CBP, like we saw all of this move in historic fashion.
And guess what? In less than 12 hours, the Colombian Government changed its mind, and they were literally – and of course, they’re maintaining a diplomatic route. We were having conversations with the Colombian Government. As we are having conversations with them, guess what? Before you knew it, something that in any other administration would have taken 12 months or 12 weeks to resolve was resolved in 12 hours.
And it sends a message that this administration, President Trump, Secretary Rubio – they mean what they say. There will be consequences for breaking agreements with the United States or having bad faith with the United States, which is why we urge everyone to have – by the way, including Nicolás Maduro now with Ric Grenell – good-faith conversations to show good-faith efforts and not to try to in any way backtrack or things of the sort. And I think that sends a message across the region.
And by the way, the fact that Secretary Rubio’s going to these five countries that are ultimately allies of the United States shows a message: we’re friends of our friends, and we’re going to, at the end of the day – and by the way, it’s not even ideological, per se, right? If you are democratically elected, left-wing government in the region and you want to work with the United States, we wish no ill. This was not – we didn’t pick this fight on Sunday with Colombia. Like we had a good-faith agreement, and suddenly it was undone by Petro’s tweet. That’s unacceptable.
And by the way, it’s gotten fixed. Diplomacy prevailed. You heard the President the other day say their team worked great. And you know what, we’re going to move on, and we’re going to work with them and we’re going to find solutions. And now there’s other issues that are going to come up and there’s going to be other challenges. But lesson learned, and hopefully lesson learned throughout not only the region but the world.
MS HOUSTON: Thank you, everyone, for this incredible exchange. On behalf of the U.S. Department of State, I would like to express our gratitude to our distinguished speakers and to the members of the press. This briefing is on-the-record and information may be attributed directly to our speakers, identifying them by name and title.
I understand that there are still many hands that are raised, and unfortunately we are not able to continue with the Q&A portion of our call. But I ask if you have questions that have not been addressed that you send them to the department’s media inquiry system, and that is on our state.gov newsroom site.
In honor of this first trip, there will be a number of items that will be released from the department to provide additional color and fodder around what we can expect on this incredible opportunity to our hemisphere. There will be a video that will be released announcing the trip in the Secretary’s words sometime today on our flagship accounts, as well as other items that you can continue to keep an eye out for.
Thank you again, everyone, for joining. We very much look forward to staying in touch and moving forward with a renewed sense of purpose in our hemisphere. This concludes our on-the-record call. The embargo is now lifted. Thank you.