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Trump criticizes Trudeau, Panama, Biden commutations on Truth Social

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(NewsNation) — President-elect Donald Trump made more than 30 posts on his social media platform Truth Social in the span of 1 hour on Christmas.

Among the posts Trump made on Tuesday was one announcing his pick for U.S. Ambassador to Panama, though he criticized the country itself.

“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.

This echoes comments the Republican made Sunday at the conservative conference “AmericaFest,” where he said that the United States “foolishly” ceded control of the canal to Panama, and suggested his administration would try to get it back.

The president of San Jose, José Raúl Mulino rejected that notion as an affront to his country’s sovereignty.


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Along with revealing his new choice for his incoming administration, Trump used Truth Social to urge others to confirm his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth and FBI director, Kash Patel.

Both are facing criticism — Hegseth for sexual misconduct allegations and Patel for comments he’s made about the “Deep State” and other conspiracy theories.

To Republican strategist Whitley Yates, the flurry of social media posts by the president-elect are “very Trump.”

“He is someone who’s consistently thinking about America, consistently on Truth Social talking about America,” Yates said on “Morning in America” Wednesday.

Democratic Strategist Brad Howard said although the “meat” of the story is who Trump is nominating to be in his administration, he likes to throw other topics out there “because he’s really good at grabbing headlines and narratives and media attention.”

“It’s working,” Howard said. “But there are some troubling things here that he’s proposing.”

President-elect Donald Trump strongly defended cabinet nominees Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel in a flurry of Christmas Day Truth Social posts. Political strategists @BradHowardDC and @whitleyjyates discuss what it means. More: https://t.co/cfujjMdr8N pic.twitter.com/wmwrCiWHig

— NewsNation (@NewsNation) December 26, 2024

Trump takes on Canada, Greenland

Also on Tuesday, Trump made a post directed toward Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying his “citizens’ taxes are far too high.”

“If Canada was to become our 51st State, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. He previously called making Canada the 51st state a “great idea” in another Truth Social post as well.

Instead of Trudeau, Trump suggested former professional hockey player Wayne Gretzky run for prime minister of Canada.

Greenland, Trump added, is “needed by the United States for National Security purposes.” Last week, Trump said the U.S. owning Greenland “is an absolute necessity.”

Múte Egede, Greenland’s prime minister, said in a statement that Greenland “is not for sale and will never be for sale.”


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Trump slams Biden commutations

Among his multiple posts on Tuesday were ones criticizing current President Joe Biden for commuting the death row sentences of 37 federal inmates to life in prison.

“I refuse to wish a merry Christmas to those lucky souls, but instead will say, go to hell,” Trump said.

The White House announced Biden’s commutations Monday.

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement released for publication on Monday. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”

Throughout his time on the campaign trail for the 2024 election, Trump said his administration would not shy away from the death penalty. During the last six months of Trump’s first term, a record 13 federal inmates were put to death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.