Potential plans range from partnering more closely with Panamanian security forces to a less likely option of U.S. troops' seizing the canal by force, U.S. officials told NBC News.

The U.S. military must work to provide options to ensure the United States has full access to the Panama Canal, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday.

The White House has asked the United States military to draw up plans for how it might seize the Panama Canal “by force,” a bombshell report revealed Thursday. The alleged directive comes a week after President Donald Trump told lawmakers in his joint address to Congress he would be “reclaiming” the vital waterway to “further enhance our national security.