Donald Trump cast himself both as a peacemaker and fierce defender of US interests in a mercurial return to the White House on Monday, vowing to seize the Panama Canal but also imploring Russia to make a deal on Ukraine.

Monrovia NSU CHALLENGER bulk carrier transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Aris Martinez/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Newly sworn-in President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that the United States would take back the Panama Canal as he delivered an inauguration speech in which he invoked the 19th century expansionist doctrine of "Manifest Destiny" in laying out plans for space exploration.

Speaking during his inaugural address, President Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America," return Alaska's Denali to "Mount McKinley" and retake control of the Panama Canal.

President Donald Trump on Monday cast himself as a peacemaker in his second inaugural address, but immediately vowed that the United States would be "taking back" the Panama Canal.