Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Monday that President-elect Trump's recent provocations about the U.S. possibly retaking control of the Panama Canal are part of a negotiating tactic to get the rates down.

Mulvaney added, however, that Trump has leverage in the negotiating process because he makes “credible” threats.

“This is a negotiation,” Mulvaney said on NewsNation’s “The Hill” about Trump’s recent Panama remarks, adding, “By the way, one of the reasons Trump is so good at negotiating is that it's a credible threat.”

“If he says, you know, ‘Look, we're going to have problems with Panama if they don't lower the rates,’” Mulvaney continued, “You know, I don't envision American troops going in to retake the canal, but you got to think that someone is out there scratching their head........

© The Hill