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Leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania, and Guinea-Bissau took part in the lunch, which reflected bonhomie and a commitment to future engagement, not alone with the five countries, but Africa at large
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted five West African leaders in Washington on Wednesday for a “multilateral lunch”. Leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania, and Guinea-Bissau took part in the lunch, which reflected bonhomie and a commitment to future engagement, not alone with the five countries, but Africa at large. Experts feel that it is a major departure from Trump’s policy, unlike in his first term, when he treated Africa with less seriousness.
The meeting took place in the aftermath of the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development. “We are shifting from A-I-D to trade,” Trump told the leaders. Meanwhile, a study published in the Lancet medical journal projects Trump’s shift will lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including 4.5 million children.
Trump opened the African leaders meeting saying, “There’s a lot of anger on your continent. “We’ve been able to solve a lot of it,” Trump said, pointing to a recent peace agreement leaders of Congo and Rwanda signed recently at the White House.
The West African leaders, speaking one at a time, praised Trump for his efforts to try to foster peace deals around the world. Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye suggested his country also offered investment opportunities for tourism, including, he suggested, a golf course. Faye said the course would only be a six-hour flight from New York and suggested Trump could visit to show off his skills.
After President Joseph Boakai wrapped up his brief remarks at the start of the White House meeting, Trump asked the Liberian leader where he learned to speak so “beautifully.” Trump seemed surprised when Boakai responded that he learned in Liberia.
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The US president also said that he would “very much like to go to Africa “at some point, although he added that he would need to check his schedule first. Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023. But he only made good on that commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.
