President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible, stressing his ability to end the Russian war against Ukraine and his ability to quickly end wars in the Middle East. However, Trump has sparked widespread controversy over his threat to regain American control of the Panama Canal, his ideas that carry a new perspective on foreign policy, and his trade threats that raise concerns and send messages that his next term will not be peaceful, and that he will implement his “America First” agenda without many of the barriers that restricted his first term.

In his first major rally since winning the presidential election, Trump spoke for more than an hour on Sunday at an event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona. Thousands of conservative activists applauded as the president-elect took the stage amid a display of fireworks, smoke and patriotic songs. They chanted the name of the incoming president, who told them, “I stand before you today and I can proudly say that the golden age of America has arrived.” He pledged that his “dream team” of cabinet and government appointees would work to bring prosperity to the U.S. economy, close U.S. borders and fight drug trafficking.

Meeting with Putin

Trump noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed interest in meeting with him about the war with Ukraine, saying, “President Putin wants to meet with me as soon as possible, so we have to wait and we have to end this terrible war.” The president-elect hinted that U.S. military aid to Ukraine may continue after he takes office. NATO and the European Union are working to find ways to maintain support for Ukraine while Trump seeks a quick solution to end the war and bring the parties to the negotiating table.

Trump had previously promised in his election campaign to end the war within 24 hours, but he did not explain how he would do so, especially since Putin had set strict conditions for any agreement, including rejecting Ukraine’s accession to NATO, reducing its military strength, and holding on to Russian-controlled territory inside Ukraine. Analysts believe that these demands make reaching a peace agreement difficult.

Panama Canal Restore

Trump raised a different foreign policy issue, accusing Panama of imposing excessive fees for passage through the canal, the passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Trump said he would insist on regaining control of the canal, which the United States relinquished under a treaty signed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama in December 1999.

"We are being cheated in the Panama Canal just like we are being cheated everywhere else," Trump said, noting that his new administration would try to take control of the Panama Canal, describing giving up the canal as "foolishness."

“They must treat us fairly, and if the moral and legal principles of this gesture are not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question. We will not stand idly by,” he added.

Panama's President Jose Raul Molino took to social media to say his country's sovereignty was non-negotiable, and Trump posted on Truth Social a photo of the Panama Canal with the American flag and the words "Welcome to the United States Canal."

Musk will not be president

During his speech, Trump mocked Democrats' accusation that tech billionaire Elon Musk is exerting influence over the president-elect and has become a shadow president who drives the policies of the next administration. Trump said, laughing, "There are hoaxes being woven and the new thing is that President Trump is conceding the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that's not going to happen... He's not going to be president. I'm safe. You know why? Because he wasn't born in this country."

According to the US Constitution's requirements for the presidency, no one can run for president if they were not born in the United States. Elon Musk was born in South Africa and became a US citizen in 2002, so he cannot become president unless the constitution is amended.

Trump announced that Elon Musk would lead the Department of Government Efficiency with businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, after Musk played a major role in donating millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign. Over the past week, Democrats have raised concerns that Musk is becoming more than just a billionaire spending his money to support Trump or a mere participant in the Department of Government Efficiency, but rather is working to impose his views on President Trump and control his direction. This came after Musk led a broad campaign to reject the spending bill and criticized the project on his platform “X.” Musk responded last Friday in a tweet accusing Democrats of trying to drive a wedge between him and the president-elect.

First day in the white house

The president-elect reiterated his pledge to close the southern border with Mexico and deport illegal immigrants, saying, “On my first day in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic list of executive orders to close our borders to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country. On the same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, larger than even President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s.”

“I’ve told Mexico and Canada that they’re going to have to step in and stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs into our country, and they have to stop. That goes for the European Union and that goes for a lot of other places. The European Union has treated us very badly. We have hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our agricultural products, but we take their products and they have to be careful and not treat us that way, and they won’t treat us that way for long, that’s what I can tell you. Because we’re not going to let them turn the United States into a dumping ground,” the president-elect added.

“To save our economy, I will sign day one orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production, end his crazy electric vehicle mandate, and lift the ban on natural gas exports,” he continued.

On the social side, Trump stressed the protection of far-right principles, saying: “With the stroke of a pen on Day One, we will stop the transgender madness. I will sign executive orders to end the sexual mutilation of children, and to remove transgender people from the military and from our elementary, middle, and high schools. We will ban men from women’s sports. And it will happen the next day, too.” He added: “Under a Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two sexes, male and female.”