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.

Panama denied a claim made by the State Department on Wednesday that the Central American nation had agreed to no longer charge fees for US government ships to transit the country’s famous canal.

The Panama Canal Authority put out its own terse statement saying it had “not made any adjustments” to the fees.

Panama's president says the State Department's claim of an agreement granting U.S. warships free canal passage was "based on a falsity. And that's intolerable."

The Panama Canal Authority late Wednesday said it has made no change to its tolls or other fees, denying the Trump administration claim that it has agreed to no longer charge U.S. government vessels for using it.

President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied a claim by the Trump administration that this Central American country had agreed to eliminate tolls for U.S. government ships using the Panama Canal, in an apparent setback to U.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday accused the United States government of lying a day earlier when the U.S. State Department claimed that U.S. government vessels would be able to cross the country's namesake canal without paying fees.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino has accused the US of spreading "lies and falsehoods" after the US State Department claimed American government vessels were no longer required to pay a fee to transit through the Panama Canal.