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.

In recent days the president-elect has called for asserting U.S. control over the Panama Canal and Greenland, showing that his “America First” philosophy has an expansionist dimension.

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.

The president-elect made the remark on the same weekend he threatened to take back the Panama Canal, prompting a rebuke from Panama's president.

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

Trump named Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera as his choice for the post after suggesting that the US should take control of the Panama Canal – a proposal he first floated over the weekend while claiming that Panama is “ripping off” American ships that pass through the waterway.

President-elect Trump floated the idea of the U.S. sending troops to the Panama Canal, buying Greenland, and strong-arming Canada into becoming the country’s 51st state. NBC News Senior National Political Reporter Jonathan Allen and former Rep.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said China has no stake in the Panama Canal and US warships pay the same toll rates as other nations, pushing back against Donald Trump’s threats over the key waterway.