President and first lady Melania Trump caught in awkward moment with Panamanian president

President Donald Trump welcomed Panama President Juan Carlos Varela to the White House on Monday and caught himself in an awkward exchange during their media availability.

The president asserted in the Oval Office photo-op that the U.S. did a "very good job" building the Panama Canal -- and President Varela was ready with a quip.

Photos from the meeting:

"The Panama Canal is doing quite well. I think we did a good job building it, right?" Trump asked. "Very good job."

"Yeah, 100 years ago," Varela quickly responded, which some saw as a dig.

But Varela did speak warmly about the relationship between the United States and Panama.

"I would like to thank President Trump and his wife for receiving us today at the White House," he said. "It's an honor for me to be here. There's 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."

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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.

First lady Melania Trump and Panamanian first lady Lorena Castillo de Varela were also in attendance on Monday.