Trump’s Panama Canal threats leave country’s officials scrambling for answers
CNN
The new Panamanian ambassador was given strict instructions as he prepared to meet then-President Donald Trump one day in 2019: Do not engage him in any substantive discussion of critical issues.
The new Panamanian ambassador was given strict instructions as he prepared to meet then-President Donald Trump one day in 2019: Do not engage him in any substantive discussion of critical issues. This was meant to be a carefully choreographed photo op, nothing more but a brief stop on the diplomatic conveyor belt as foreign ambassadors lined up in the West Wing to formalize their positions atop embassies across Washington. But the instructions left Juan De Dianous unprepared for the brief interaction with Trump that followed. As he went to shake Trump’s hand, the president mentioned that in his experience there were “a lot of crooks” in Panama. De Dianous died in 2021 and never sought to publicize or draw attention to the moment. But the story was relayed or confirmed to CNN by several former Panamanian government officials, who, like the rest of the world, are now grappling to divine Trump’s views on the Central American nation of 4 million people. Through a series of social media posts and then most prominently during a press conference last week where he repeatedly railed against former President Jimmy Carter’s decision to give the Panama Canal over to Panama, Trump has set off a global guessing game about his intentions. His decision not to rule out the use of military force to retake the critical waterway escalated a dispute that seemingly appeared out of thin air. Current and former government officials, senior canal officials and residents in Panama are now left with plenty of questions, but few answers.
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