Trump names close aide as Panama ambassador "to represent the national interest"

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has declared that he will be given back control of the Panama Canal, has named his confidant as Panama's ambassador.

Trump announced on his social media that Kevin Marino Cabrera will be an ambassador in Panama, where he rips us with the Panama Canal.

Cabrera helped Trump's reelection campaign in Florida and headed the Florida division of the U.S. Institute for First Policy, a pro-Trump think tank.

Trump says Kevin is a fierce fighter of America First principles and will work fantastically to represent our national interests in Panama.

Earlier, Trump warned that Panama could demand the return of the canal, saying it would rip off excessive tolls to the United States.

In a social media post, Trump sarcastically congratulated China's good soldiers for illegally operating the Panama Canal on Christmas, arguing that China would pay the U.S. billions of dollars to repair the canal, but that the U.S. had no say in the canal.