‘Always Take Him Seriously’: House Republican Says Trump’s Panama Canal Threat Is ‘Legitimate’

Fox Business host Ashley Webster spoke to GOP Congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) on Monday about President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion over the weekend that the U.S. might reclaim the Panama Canal.

“Congressman, is Donald Trump right? Are we being ripped off on the Panama Canal? What do you think?” Webster began.

“Well, he very well could be right that that we’re getting ripped off. But what’s most concerning is China’s influence on Panama and the Panama Canal Authority. China has a way of trying to either buy or coerce different influencers or politicians to do their bidding,” Gimenez replied, adding:

And a couple of years ago, we had we had concerns and we had reports that some of the members of that Panamanian Canal Authority had, in fact, been been coerced or co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party. So, yeah, he has he has legitimate concerns when it comes to the Panama Canal.

“Fascinating. Could we take it back? Do you know?” Webster followed up.

“I don’t know. I haven’t read the fine print, but apparently he has. And there has to be provisions there that say that they have to treat the United States a certain way. If they have been violating that, then I don’t know,” Gimenez responded, adding:

Maybe there is. You know, I always take them seriously, even though they may sound a little bit, you know, out there. I always take the president seriously. And it’s a legitimate threat to Panama. He wants a better deal. And I think we need to get a better deal from Panama. And also we need to get rid of Chinese influence on the Panama Canal. Yeah.

Notably, over the weekend, Trump also wrote on his Truth Social platform, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

Webster then pivoted to ask about the spending fight in DC, “Very good. All right, Let’s move on. Over the weekend, President Biden signing the stopgap funding bill into law to avoid a shutdown, of course, but the bill extends government funding into March. What does this mean for spending fights going forward?”

“When I look at the Congress, the Republican Congress, and I know the president is is committed to reducing the size of government, we have to reduce the size of our deficit. So what this bill does, it gives us some time where you we want to put through a reconciliation package, one, maybe two, two of them that deal with the border and then other broader economic issues. The deficit is going to be a big, big topic of these reconciliation packages. And so we need to move forward. And so this just gives a little bit a little bit of breathing room. The government’s still operating. I’ve always said that it’s not a good idea to shut down the government because it actually costs us more when we start it. And it’s not good for our national security,” Gimenez concluded.

Watch the clip above via Fox.