Donald Trump hosts African leaders at White House

DW (English)

US President Donald Trump hosted leaders of five West African nations at the White House. African countries there are facing the fall-out from some of his administration's changes, whether on tariffs, travel restrictions or sharp cuts to US foreign aid.

Transcript

00:00The surprise meeting between President Donald Trump and five African leaders came at an

00:06extraordinary time for U.S. relations with the continent. The U.S. leader met with the

00:11presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal. Out of the five,

00:18only Guinea-Bissau is not facing a potential ban on travel to the U.S.

00:22It's also a time where Africa has been hit hard by U.S. aid cuts.

00:26We have closed the U.S.A.I.D. group to eliminate waste fraud and abuse, which was tremendous waste

00:34fraud and abuse. And we're working tirelessly to forge new economic opportunities involving both

00:40the United States and many African nations. There's great economic potential in Africa,

00:46like few other places in many ways. In his meeting with five African leaders,

00:51President Trump emphasized his administration's foreign policy approach towards the continent.

00:56Prioritizing trade over aid and investment over assistance. It's also part of a push to secure

01:03critical minerals deals, with the U.S. eyeing African resources.

01:07Liberia has a lot of minerals.

01:12We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials.

01:16But analysts warn of hurdles to improving trade relations.

01:20Judy Moore, a fellow at the Washington-based Center for Global Development, was a former

01:26public works minister for Liberia.

01:28One of the things that we know about trade and commerce is that any increase in trade and

01:33commerce between two countries means that people-to-people exchanges also go up.

01:37So how are you looking to increase trade and commerce at the exact same time you're imposing

01:41visa bans, making it impossible for people to go back and forth?

01:44At the meeting, Trump was also asked about the fate of the African Growth and Opportunity Act,

01:49or AGOA, a U.S. trade program giving some sub-Saharan countries duty-free access for the U.S.

01:55for many exports. It's expiring in September.

01:59We're going to have to take a look at it.

02:01An open-ended answer. But what happens to AGOA will likely be taken as a measure of this

02:07administration's commitment to trade with Africa.

02:09And the president being noncommittal to AGOA means that the meeting itself sent two different

02:16kinds of messages. On the one hand, it's that things remain, at best, at random. But on the

02:22second, it is about American businesses in Africa. It is about American things being sold to Africa.

02:27It is not about African businesses being able to sell things to America. And that kind of one-sided

02:32thing means that it's kind of hard to take it serious when you say you're for trade and not A.

02:37For African leaders, the meeting offered a rare opportunity to come to the White House for a

02:43day. But the forging of true partnerships? That may take a little longer.

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