President Donald Trump knew what he was doing when he recruited former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.

Not only is Defense Secretary Hegseth aiming to reform the military into the warfighting machine that it should be, but he's also making it crystal clear that America will not be fooled with abroad, including the Panama Canal situation.

According to Breitbart, Hegseth sent shockwaves through the Pentagon when he ordered DoD officials to "provide credible military options to ensure fair and unfettered US military and commercial access to the Panama Canal."

In a memo titled "Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance," reportedly sent to top defense officials, Hegseth demanded to know all of his options to ensure U.S. ships would have safe passage through the canal.

What's going on?

According to reports, U.S. Southern Command presented draft strategies to the Defense Secretary "simply ensuring that U.S. ships have safe passage through the canal to restoring total U.S. ownership and operation of it."

Breitbart noted:

Other options reportedly under consideration include using the U.S. military to secure existing ports in Panama, build new ports in Panama or use the Army Corps of Engineers to operate the canal’s locks.

The strategies fall in line with President Trump's suggestion that unless the Panama Canal officials play fair with the United States, we might just take it back under American ownership.

Trump is dead-set on taking back control of the crucial, 50-mile shipping lane while pushing out growing Chinese influence in the area.

"A large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals," Trump said last week.

Notably, there are roughly 200 American troops stationed in Panama, mostly to be of assistance to the country to deal with potential internal threats. Some of those troops are from Special Forces units.

Social media reacts

In February, Sec. Hegseth wrote "America built the Panama Canal. Nobody else. Our interests will be defended" on his X account, sparking plenty of feedback.

"Panama’s got it right. Our canal, our rules. We built it, and we’re not about to let anyone else try to control it for their own gain," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Panama should return the Canal to America."

It'll be fascinating to see what the outcome is, and if the canal is, in fact, returned to United States control. It's definitely possible.