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..

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 selection of Mr. Cabrera, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, comes a few days after Mr. Trump called for the United States to regain control of the Panama Canal.