U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed a phone call with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino due to last-minute changes in the U.S. leader's agenda, Panama's government said on Friday, amid tensions over U.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino has rejected the U.S. State Department's claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

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 Panamanian leader says he was “incredibly surprised” by the statement, as President Trump threatens a U.S. takeover of the strategic waterway.

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

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.

The U.S. Department of State said on Wednesday American government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees.

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.

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 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.