President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend suggested the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that was immediately rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama after having threatened for the U.S. to reassert control over the Panama Canal it handed over 25 years ago.

Treaties ratified by the Senate in 1978 established permanent neutrality, but some Republicans regret that decision.