Trump threatens to take back the Panama Canal [Video]

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.

Panama’s conservative president José Raúl Mulino, who was elected in April on a pro-business platform, roundly rejected that notion as an affront to his country’s sovereignty.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The Republican president-elect’s comment came during his first major rally since winning the White House on Nov. 5. He also used his comments to also bask in his return to power as a large audience of conservatives cheered along. It was a display of party unity at odds with a just-concluded budget fight on Capitol Hill where some GOP lawmakers openly …