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 has categorically denied assertions made by the U.S. State Department that the country had agreed to allow U.S. government vessels to transit the canal without paying tolls or fees.

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.

US government ships will no longer pay to transit through the Panama Canal, the US Department of State said on Wednesday, following fierce criticism from Washington over the administration of the waterway.

The Panama Canal Authority on Wednesday denied the U.S. State Department's claim that U.S. government vessels would be able to cross the canal without paying fees, likely ratcheting up tensions after President Donald Trump threatened to take back control of the crossing.

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.

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

The Panama Canal Authority said in a statement late on Wednesday that it had not made any changes to charges or rights to cross the canal, after the U.S. State Department said that U.S. government vessels could transit the crossing without being subject to such fees.