Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first trip starting next week to Central American nations including Panama, where President Donald Trump has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio would travel to Panama as well as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

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"It's about making sure that if we're going to be safe and prosperous and in good shape, we've got to have an interest in our neighbors -- and in today's world, it's certainly South and Central America," Bruce said.

"There's a reason why this is the first trip. It signals how seriously he takes it," she said.

She did not describe the details of any expected conversations on the Panama Canal. Trump in his inaugural address Monday vowed that the United States would be "taking it back."

Rubio in his confirmation hearing did not suggest military force but said that the United States needed to address serious concerns about Chinese influence near the vital waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have been top sources of migration to the United States, which Trump has vowed to halt completely.

On taking office, Trump quickly ended a program by his predecessor Joe Biden aiming to give ways for migrants to apply for asylum and instead has threatened the use of the military to keep people from crossing from Mexico.

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has been a favorite of Trump supporters for his lethal and ruthless crackdown on crime in his country. (AFP)