
White House hosts West African leaders to discuss trade and development
On Wednesday, Trump hosted leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House for talks and a working lunch, with discussions expected to centre on business opportunities, according to a White House official.
During the lunch, Trump said they hail from 'very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, great oil deposits and wonderful people'.
'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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda recently signed at the White House.
The leaders are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation, including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to statements from the White House and Liberia. Trump said the five countries were unlikely to face US tariffs.
President Trump Participates in a Multilateral Lunch with African Leaders https://t.co/nkcx56xF74
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 9, 2025
Trump is expected to soon announce dates for a broader summit with African leaders, possibly in September around the time of the United Nations General Assembly.
This week's mini-summit marks the latest effort by successive administrations to counter perceptions that the US has neglected a continent where China has increasingly made economic inroads.
Trade, investment in focus
Wednesday's meeting is expected to focus on economics.
During the meeting, Gabon's President Brice Oligui Nguema told Trump his country was open to investment and wants to see its raw mineral resources processed locally, but needs large investments in energy to do so.
'We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources with win-win partnerships,' Nguema said at the meeting.
Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye suggested his country also offered investment opportunities for tourism, including 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.
The US International Development Finance Corporation said earlier in the day it would provide project development funding for the Banio Potash Mine in Mayumba, Gabon, helping Gabon reduce its dependence on imports.
'DFC's efforts not only benefit the countries and communities where they invest but also advance US economic interests by opening new markets, strengthening trade relationships, and promoting a more secure and prosperous global economy,' said DFC head of investments Conor Coleman.
The five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of US-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources.
Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along with Guinea-Bissau, are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
However, African Union officials question how Africa could deepen trade ties with the US under what they called 'abusive' tariff proposals and visa restrictions largely targeting travellers from Africa.
The top US diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, has dismissed allegations of unfair US trade practices.
Earlier this month, US authorities dissolved the US Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called 'a charity-based foreign aid model' and instead will focus on partnerships with nations that show 'both the ability and willingness to help themselves'.
Those cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, research published by The Lancet medical journal showed last week.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US State Department begins layoffs in Trump's shake-up of diplomatic corps
More than 1,350 US State Department employees have been fired in a major diplomatic shake-up ordered by President Donald Trump, in a move critics predict would curb the United States' influence around the world. Friday's mass layoff, which affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States, come at a time when Washington is grappling with multiple crises on the world stage: Russia's war in Ukraine, the almost two-year-long Gaza conflict, and the Middle East on edge due to high tension between Israel and Iran. Diplomats and other staff clapped out departing colleagues in emotional scenes at the Washington headquarters of the department, which runs US foreign policy and the global network of embassies. Some were crying as they walked out with boxes of belongings. 'It's just heartbreaking to stand outside these doors right now and see people coming out in tears, because all they wanted to do was serve this country,' said US Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat who worked as a civilian adviser for the State Department in Afghanistan during the administration of former President Barack Obama. The layoffs at the department came three days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to begin carrying out its plan to gut entire government positions. The conservative-dominated top court lifted a temporary block imposed by a lower court on Trump's plans to lay off potentially tens of thousands of employees. The 79-year-old Republican says he wants to dismantle what he calls the 'deep state'. Since taking office in January, he has worked quickly to install fierce personal loyalists and to fire swaths of veteran government workers. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the foreign policy department is too cumbersome and requires thinning out of some 15 percent. 'It's not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don't need those positions,' Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of his ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 'Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.' The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) – the union representing State Department employees – condemned the 'catastrophic blow to our national interests'. 'We oppose this decision in the strongest terms.' The State Department employed more than 80,000 people worldwide last year, according to a fact sheet, with about 17,700 in domestic roles. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), long the primary vehicle to provide US humanitarian assistance around the world, has already been mostly dismantled. According to The Washington Post, State Department employees were informed of their firings by email. Foreign Service officers will lose their jobs 120 days after receiving the notice and will be immediately placed on administrative leave, while civil service employees will be separated after 60 days, the newspaper said. Ned Price, who served as State Department spokesman under former Democratic President Joe Biden, condemned what he called haphazard firings. 'For all the talk about 'merit-based,' they're firing officers based on where they happen to be assigned on this arbitrary day,' Price said on X. 'It's the laziest, most inefficient, and most damaging way to lean the workforce.'


Al Jazeera
10 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US sending special envoy after weapons deliveries resumed, says Ukraine
The United States is once again delivering military supplies to Ukraine and will also be sending its special envoy, Keith Kellogg, to Kyiv next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. In his nightly address on Friday evening, Ukraine's leader said that US aid shipments had been restored, following the Pentagon's decision to briefly halt the delivery of certain weapons to Kyiv. 'We have received political signals at the highest level – good signals – including from the United States, from our European friends,' he said. Zelenskyy added that his country was working with its allies 'on new supplies, increased weapons production in Ukraine and better support for our army'. 'Next week, we will continue working with the US side on a military level, including between our military and General Kellogg,' he said. At the start of July, the Trump administration paused shipments of weapons to Ukraine, including air defence missiles, over fears that its own stockpiles were dwindling. The halt coincided with a spike in Russia's aerial bombardment of Ukraine, with Moscow's military firing 728 drones and 13 missiles against it on Wednesday, the largest daily total in more than three years of war. The US military aid pause also came as Ukraine suffered its highest number of monthly civilian casualties in the entire war. In June, 232 people were killed and 1,343 injured, according to the human rights mission in Ukraine. After announcing earlier this week that the US would resume shipments to Kyiv, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his country was sending weapons to NATO, which could then be sent on to Ukraine by its member states. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Friday that European nations could give some of their military supplies to Kyiv and order replacements from the US. 'It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a [US] factory and get it there,' Rubio said during a visit to Malaysia. Meanwhile, on the front line, the Russian military struck Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa on Friday morning, injuring at least eight people, according to Ukrainian local officials. Overnight Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine also injured nine and forced the evacuation of a maternity centre in Kharkiv, President Zelenskyy said. Drone attacks, shelling Meanwhile, Russian officials noted that Ukrainian drone and shelling attacks had killed three people in the Russian regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk and Tula on Friday. The Ukrainian military said on Telegram that it had targeted a Russian fighter aircraft plant in the Moscow region and a missile production facility in the Tula region on Friday. Both drone attacks caused explosions and fires, Ukraine added. The US's decision to resume aid deliveries to Ukraine comes as Trump has signalled a growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Amid an apparent thaw in relations, Rubio met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia on Friday. 'We are talking, and that is a start,' Rubio said. Lavrov later travelled to North Korea to hold talks. Pyongyang has been an important backer of Moscow, sending thousands of troops to Russia to help it in its war against Ukraine.


Al Jazeera
12 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump's new Brazil tariffs could raise US beef prices
United States President Donald Trump's newly announced tariffs of 50 percent on Brazilian imports could drive up beef prices for US consumers. Unless the White House delays or reverses course, the tariffs are set to take effect on August 1. After China, the US is the second-largest importer of Brazilian beef. Brazil is currently the fifth-largest source of foreign beef for the US, and its share has grown in the past year, accounting for 21 percent of all US beef imports. That surge has been driven by domestic supply challenges, including widespread droughts and rising grain costs. In fact, imports doubled in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024 including because of the threat of upcoming tariffs. Analysts say should the tariff go into place, it will hit importers of ground beef, commonly used in hamburgers, particularly hard. 'They [US beef importers] will either have to pay the higher cost of Brazilian beef or obtain it from other higher-cost sources. That could lead to higher prices for certain beef products, particularly ground beef and hamburger meat. This comes at a time when the US cattle herd is at the lowest level in many decades, demand for beef is strong, and as a result beef prices are up,' David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University, told Al Jazeera. The 50 percent tariff would bring the rate on Brazilian beef to about 76 percent for the rest of the year, Reuters news agency reported, citing livestock analysts. Some domestic trade groups, including the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), have praised the White House for the looming tariffs. 'NCBA strongly supports President Trump holding Brazil accountable with a 50 percent tariff,' NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. 'For many years, NCBA has called for full suspension of imported Brazilian beef due to their abysmal lack of accountability on cattle health and food safety. Brazil's failure to report cases of atypical BSE [a neurological disease affecting cattle] and their history of [foot and mouth disease] is a major concern for America's cattle producer. 'A 50 percent tariff is a good start, but we need to suspend beef imports from Brazil so we can conduct a thorough audit and verify Brazil's claims [of safety and health practices].' In the 2024 election cycle, almost 95 percent of the political action committee representing the NCBA's donations went to Republican candidates, according to OpenSecrets. Rising costs The tariffs come as the US is already facing a decline in domestic beef production and increased reliance on imported beef. There are already other strains on the US beef market because livestock imports from Mexico are at a standstill following new health concerns — the spread of a flesh-eating parasite called a screwworm. At the same time, imports from Brazil were down in June on the back of the 10 percent tariffs the White House imposed in April across all countries while they each negotiated their trade deal with the US. 'Domestic beef producers may benefit in the short term from reduced competition. However, producers are facing high input costs and weather-related challenges that limit their ability to expand quickly,' Ortega added. Farmers in the US also have the smallest cattle herds in more than 70 years, and production is expected to decrease further by two percent by the end of the year. Because of pains in domestic supply, imports doubled in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year. That began to decline last month as a result of the 10 percent blanket tariffs. Robert Perosa, president of Brazilian Beef Exporters Associations (ABIEC), an industry trade group, told reporters that the new tariffs would make it 'economically unfeasible' to continue to export to the US market. The move will raise costs for restaurants across the US. 'Dramatic tariff increases could affect menu planning and food costs for restaurants as they attempt to find new suppliers,' Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. 'As we have said from the outset, our industry relies on a steady supply of imported goods that cannot be produced here in the US, and we urge the Trump administration to pursue policies that will secure fair trade agreements.' Al Jazeera reached out to the largest fast food restaurant chains in the US, including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Sonic Drive-In and Jack in the Box, but none responded. JBS and Marfrig, two of Brazil's largest beef producers, also did not reply to a request for comment. Markets respond Stock markets have been relatively muted in their response to Trump's tariff announcements this week. At the market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.6 percent, and the S&P 500 is down 0.33 percent for the day. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down 0.2 percent. JBS, which also has substantial beef production operations in the US, made a $200m investment earlier this year to expand two facilities in the US. The company's stock is up 0.4 percent for the day despite the challenges the tariffs will pose to its Brazilian beef business. Marfrig is down 3.98 percent for the day, although this comes as the company postponed a shareholder meeting for the second time for an unrelated pending acquisition of a poultry and pork processor.