But the instructions left Juan De Dianous unprepared for the brief interaction with Trump that followed. As he went to shake Trump’s hand, the president mentioned that in his experience there were “a lot of crooks” in Panama.
De Dianous died in 2021 and never sought to publicize or draw attention to the moment. But the story was relayed or confirmed to CNN by several former Panamanian government officials, who, like the rest of the world, are now grappling to divine Trump’s views on the Central American nation of 4 million people.
