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.

Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, a Republican who won his county election two years ago after an endorsement by Trump, got the ambassador nod on Christmas Day through a social media post by the president-elect. The nomination comes days after he met with Trump at his Palm Beach private club, Mar-a-Lago..