5 awkward quotes from Donald Trump during his meeting with 5 African leaders
Donald Trump met with five African leaders on July 9, 2025, to discuss trade, security, and investment.
The meeting followed his successful peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Trump's rhetorical style was evident during the discussions, making several notable statements.
Following the historic peace deal Trump was able to broker between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.S. president scheduled a meeting with 5 other African leaders to discuss trade, regional security, and investment.
The meeting, which was held on Wednesday, went about as typically as anyone would have hoped for, relative to Trump's other meetings with world leaders, notably the contentious and hostile sessions with the presidents of Ukraine and South Africa.
While Trump's meeting with the five African heads of state was as civil as it gets, it was not void of Trump's signature rhetorical style.
Few political figures in recent history have captivated the public's attention like Donald Trump.
His litigious style, which is typically direct, combative, and unique, has attracted and divided audiences in the United States and the world over.
Whether making campaign speeches, tweeting, or participating in televised debates, Trump's style of discourse has constantly ignored established political norms.
With that said, here are the 5 most Trump-like things the U.S. president said to the five African leaders during their meeting.
'There's a lot of anger on your continent; we've been able to solve a lot of it.'
The U.S president said this in his welcome note, referring to the peace deal he initiated between Rwanda and the DRC.
The anger on the continent in his context referenced the wars in Libya, Sudan, and every other conflict-ridden region.
'You guys are going to fight; we're not going to trade.'
This was said by Donald Trump when he was addressing the measures the United States takes against warring states that it sanctions.
His point here was that he is willing to trade with African countries as long as they are not fighting.
'We've encouraged the countries here today to make greater investments in defence, hopefully, of course, buying our equipment, because we do make the best defense equipment, I guess we proved that two weeks ago in Iran.'
This quote by the American president is practically self-explanatory, as his goal with this statement was to encourage the buying of American-made weapons by African countries.
'I haven't thought of it, but maybe, I don't know, I like him, him, him, and him, no, I don't think so, not too much, these are friends of mine now.'
Donald Trump responded to a reporter's question about imposing hefty tariffs on the countries represented by the leaders present.
He pointed to four of the five African leaders there, stating that he liked them and would be hesitant to impose large tariffs on their countries.
"Such good English, where did you learn to speak so beautifully? I have people at this table who can't speak nearly as well."
Perhaps the most controversial statement from Trump during the meeting, given how much it has been trending on social media, Trump asked Liberia's president where he learnt to speak English so well.
This has come across as passive-aggressive to some people, as they claim that the president's statement implies that Africa is illiterate.
Some say it's driven by ignorance, given that Liberia is an English-speaking country, something the U.S president should have been aware of.
The rest of the African leaders present at the meeting spoke French.
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