“ Canada is a sovereign state, yes ,” Pete Hoekstra told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He’s a former congressman who served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands in President Donald Trump ’s first term.

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare plans for carrying out his threat to "take back" the Panama Canal, including by military force if needed, two U.S. officials familiar with the situation told NBC News Thursday.

: Donald Trump vowed to take back the Panama Canal, claiming that a 1970s agreement to hand over the canal to Panama had been violated. “The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans,” he said.