In a Christmas Day message on Truth Social, Trump sarcastically wished a merry Christmas to “the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” and “making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money,

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday vehemently denied President-elect Trump's claims of Chinese interference in the Panama Canal. Why it matters: Trump has accused Panamanian authorities of charging "exorbitant" shipping rates and cited the increasing dominance of China's government in trade throughout the Americas as a reason to take control of the Panama Canal,