U.S. President Donald Trump hosted five West African leaders on Wednesday for a “multilateral lunch” as the region reels from the impact of U.S. aid cuts.
The surprise meeting with leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau follows the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development.
“We are shifting from A-I-D to trade,” Trump told the leaders. 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 leader 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.
Read also: Five African presidents to visit Trump at White House
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 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 he learned in Liberia. “I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well,” Trump added.
Donald Trump was basking in the praise of a group of African leaders on Wednesday, when the Liberian president took the microphone.
“Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again,” President Joseph Boakai said in English at a White House meeting before advocating for US investment in his country. “We just want to thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has previously been criticised for other remarks he made on African countries.
He notably caused outrage during his first term when he referred to Haiti and several African nations as “shithole countries”.
