The White House expects Panama's Supreme Court to cancel a major port concession tied to the Panama Canal on Thursday, a move the administration sees as a potential setback for China's commercial footprint in the region and a complicating factor for a BlackRock-led ports deal.
Axios reported that two sources said the court is expected to void contracts held by Panama Ports Company, which operates the Balboa and Cristobal ports near the canal and is 90% owned by the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison.
The ports are separate from the Panama Canal itself, which the United States transferred to Panama under treaties that took effect in 1999, following 1977 agreements between the two countries.
The court fight matters because a BlackRock-led consortium agreed in 2025 to acquire CK Hutchison assets, including the Panama Ports stake, in a transaction CK Hutchison said was commercial and unrelated to politics, all part of a $22.8 billion deal that Trump applauded in March.
When the deal was announced, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino rejected President Donald Trump's claims about "reclaiming" the canal, saying the canal "is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian."
Panama's comptroller has publicly criticized the ports arrangement and moved to challenge it in court.
In April 2025, Panama's Comptroller General said preliminary audit results found Panama "should have received" $1.337 billion in port-concession payments over the last 24 years but took in $483 million, and cited an additional $349 million in fiscal sacrifices tied to taxes and benefits, according to a comptroller office release.
In July 2025, the comptroller said it filed two Supreme Court actions seeking to declare the Panama Ports contract unconstitutional and to nullify it as illegal.
If the contracts are canceled, Denmark's Maersk is expected to temporarily manage the concessions until Panama stages a new auction, according to Axios.
The reporting comes as Trump has revived Monroe Doctrine language in official messaging, including a Dec. 2, 2025, White House statement that described a "Trump Corollary" and said the administration had "restored U.S. privileged access through the Panama Canal."
Axios linked that posture to a Jan. 3 U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and took him to New York to face federal charges.
Prosecutors have long accused Maduro in U.S. court filings of drug trafficking and related offenses, and Jan. 3 also marks the date Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. authorities in 1990 after the U.S. invasion of Panama.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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