Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. The US relinquished control years ago

PHOENIX — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Addressing supporters at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump pledged that his “dream team Cabinet” would deliver a booming economy, seal U.S. borders and quickly settle wars in Israel and Ukraine. “There’s a spirit that we have now that we didn’t have just a short while ago.” His appearance capped a four-day pep rally that drew more than 20,000 activists and projected an image of Republican cohesion despite the past week’s turbulence in Washington with Trump pulling strings from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as Congress worked to avoid a government shutdown heading into the Christmas holiday. “It’s not my victory, it’s your victory.” Earlier Sunday, Trump said that Stephen Miran, who worked at the Treasury Department in Trump’s first term, was his choice to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.