US President Joe Biden and his incoming successor Donald Trump issued starkly contrasting Christmas messages Wednesday, with the latter doubling down on recent comments about seizing the Panama Canal,

The soon-to-be 47th president of the United States wished almost everyone a Merry Christmas on Wednesday, even the “Radical Left Lunatics” and the “wonderful soldiers of China.” Presidents and politicians have delivered holiday well wishes for decades — former President Calvin Coolidge issued the first official greeting in 1927 — but President-elect Donald Trump’s unique holiday greeting style

President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend suggested the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that was immediately rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

PHOENIX — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “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.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said China has no stake in the Panama Canal and US warships pay the same toll rates as other nations, pushing back against Donald Trump’s threats over the key waterway.