Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said it was "absurd" that U.S. government ships are charged to use the Panama Canal after Panama denied a claim that it had agreed to allow them free traversal.

The State Department claimed it had struck a deal that would save the U.S. government “millions of dollars a year.”

The State Department surprised Panama with the announcement that U.S. government ships would pass through the Panama Canal for free. In a Wednesday X post, the State Department announced that U.S. government vessels could now transit the Panama Canal without paying fees,