(CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday his selection for the U.S. ambassador to Panama.
President Trump nominated Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera for the post after suggesting the United States should take control of the Panama Canal. The proposal was first proposed by him over the weekend, claiming that Panama was “ripping off” passing U.S. ships. through the waterway.
“I am pleased to announce that Kevin Marino Cabrera will become the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama,” President Trump said in a statement. “There is,” he said. The president-elect added that Cabrera, who also worked on his presidential campaign in Florida, “will do a great job representing our interests in Panama!”
President Trump continued to tease U.S. territorial expansion in social media posts Wednesday, criticizing the canal’s operations and doubling down on his suggestion that the U.S. should absorb Greenland, a territory controlled by Canada and Denmark. .
In his sarcastic Christmas message, President Trump claimed that the Chinese military operates the Panama Canal and reiterated his criticism that Panama exploits American ships that use the canal.
“Merry Christmas to everyone, including the great Chinese soldiers who lovingly but illegally operated the Panama Canal (110 years ago, 38,000 people died while building it). “I always make sure that the United States is spending billions of dollars on ‘repairs’ but never saying anything about ‘anything’,” Trump said. The truth of wrote on the social network.
In the same message, President Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “the governor” and again hinted that Canada should become a state in the United States. He also suggested that Greenlanders “want the United States to be there, and so will we.”
In another post, Trump said he spoke with hockey great Wayne Gretzky about running for Canada’s prime minister on Wednesday. President Trump said Gretzky was not interested in the role, but called on Canadians to rally support for Gretzky.
President Trump’s apparent push to expand U.S. territory appears to be functioning, in part, as a negotiating tactic in line with his broader goal of reshaping U.S. trade policy. President Trump’s proposal to make Canada the 51st U.S. state comes amid threats to increase tariffs on the country, and his call for control of the Panama Canal initially It was offered as a warning to lower rates for U.S. ships sailing through the U.S.
It is unclear whether Trump’s expressed interest in U.S. expansion reflects his serious intentions. Trump’s transition team has previously refused to reveal the exact motives behind their public statements or recent statements.
President Trump’s Christmas messages on social media included wishing “Merry Christmas to all the radical left lunatics” and attacking 37 federal inmates whose sentences were commuted from death row to life sentences by President Joe Biden on Monday. It was.
“I’m not going to wish these lucky ‘souls’ a Merry Christmas, but instead I’m going to say, ‘Go to hell!'” he said.
On Tuesday, President Trump said he would direct the Justice Department to “vigorously pursue the death penalty,” criticizing Biden’s decision to remove all but three federal inmates from death row.
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