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President-elect Donald Trump poached another Florida official, this time Miami native and commissioner, Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as the ambassador to Panama, adding to a growing list of now-former Florida officials joining his second administration.
“I am pleased to announce that Kevin Marino Cabrera will serve as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, a Country that is ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams,” Trump wrote on Truth Social platform.
Cabrera has served as the Commissioner of District Six on the Miami-Dade County Commission.
His appointment needs confirmation by the Senate to become official, reported NBC News.
The announcement comes days after Trump shared a series of posts on his Truth Social platform about the United States taking control of the Panama Canal due to China’s growing influence in the region.
Trump alleged that the canal’s fees as “ridiculous” and a “complete rip-off.”
The posts, viewed as empty threats considering the United States relinquished its rights to the Panama Canal in 1999, provoked Panama’s president Jose Raul Mulino to publicly state that the canal’s ownership is non-negotiable.
Protestors in Panama did not take Trump’s threats lightly, too, burning U.S. flags while chanting, “F*** Trump” and referring to him as “public enemy.”
Trump’s posts also led to one Democrat congresswoman calling it a “preposterous” ploy to please billionaires, like Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Masayoshi Son, and Elon Musk, who’ve quickly become his biggest supporters, giving seven figure donations towards his inauguration.
