Trump welcomes Panama President says 'Canal doing well'

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Panama President Juan Carlos Varela in Washington and said that the Panama Canal is doing quite well.

The Panama Canal, a waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was completed by the U.S. in 1914 after 10 years of construction.

"It's our great honor to have President and Mrs. Varela from Panama. And we have many things to discuss. We're going to spend quite a bit of time today -- the Panama Canal is doing quite well," President Trump said.

Panama President Varela who was on a four-day visit in Washington with his wife met Trump and asserted that the idea of his visit is to work closely together to face the same challenges that they have in the region of Central America and Latin America and in their continent, the White House said in a statement.

"There is a long friendship between Panama and the United States, and we face the same challenges in the region. So, the idea of this visit is to work closely together to face the same challenges that we have in the region of Central America and Latin America and in our continent," President Varela said during the bilateral meeting.

Meanwhile, Trump claimed that the relationship between Panama and U.S. has been very strong and are developing new things to do and only getting stronger.

Panama President Vamela further said that they are looking forward for meeting with the other directors of the agencies to establish -- to work together very closely with the -- President Trump administration for the future of the region.

President Trump also took to Twitter to express his happiness after meeting with the Panama President and his wife.

"It was my great honor to welcome President @JC_Varela & Mrs. Varela from Panama this afternoon," he tweeted.

The office of Panamanian President Varela says that he discussed security, economic issues and fighting drug trafficking in his White House meeting with President Trump, the Washington Post reported.