Trump threatens to try to take back Panama Canal

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona (Rick Scuteri/AP)

Donald Trump has suggested his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the US “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Republican president-elect used his first major rally since winning the White House on November 5 to bask in his return to power as a large audience of conservatives cheered along.