CNN
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US President Donald Trump praised Liberian President Joseph Boachey on Wednesday for his strong grasp of English. However, African leaders were educated in Liberia, where English is the official language.
When he hosted five African leaders in the White House, Trump asked Boaches:
Bokai informed Trump of his education and urged him to express his curiosity. “It’s very interesting,” he said. “There are people at this table who can barely speak to us.”
Liberia was founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Association. The goal was to resettle freed slaves in Africa. The country declared its independence from the American Colonization Association in 1847, and today English is the official language and various languages are spoken domestically.
Several Liberians have expressed their crimes against Trump’s comments on Boaches, taking into account the US President’s past statements on African countries and the colonial legacy left behind by the US organizations in Liberia.
“We felt humiliated because our country is an English-speaking country,” Liberian youth advocate Archie Tammel Harris told CNN.
“I don’t see it as a compliment because he asks that question. I feel that the US President and the people of the West are looking at Africans as villagers who are not yet educated.”
A Liberian diplomat who asked not to name him told CNN he felt it was “not appropriate.” The diplomat added, “It was a bit mean to an African president from an English-speaking country.”
South African politician Veronica Mente asked about X.
White House press defended Trump’s statement on Wednesday.
“I was at the meeting and everyone was deeply grateful for the president’s time and effort. There has never been a friend like that in the White House on the continent like President Trump,” Massad Boulos, a senior African adviser to the Trump administration, said in a statement to CNN.
White House assistant reporter Anna Kelly said Trump’s comments were “a heartfelt tribute” and that “President Trump should recognize that he is already doing more to restore global stability and uplifting countries in Africa and around the world than Joe Biden has done in four years.”
Liberian Foreign Minister Sarah Bethorrow Nyanti told CNN that “there was no crime” from the Liberian president’s point of view, “Many people do not understand the linguistic boundaries and linguistic demographics of the African continent.”
“What President Trump has heard clearly is the US influence on our English in Liberia, and the President of Liberia is not angry about it,” Nyanti said.
“We know that there are a variety of accents and forms in English, so he was picking up a clear intonation that has its roots in American English for us.
Trump has previously praised other leaders for their English proficiency during diplomatic meetings. At a press conference with German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz, Trump compiled his “good English” and asked if it was as good as his German.
Merz laughed, saying, “Let’s get almost everything,” and said he was trying to “get the best possible story.”
The US President has focused English as part of this “America First” platform. During the presidential debate in 2015, Trump argued that the United States is “a country where we speak English.” In March he signed an executive order to make English the official language of the United States.
Trump previously landed in hot water for what he said about African countries. In 2018, the president called immigrants from African countries and other countries coming from “sithole countries.”
In May he spoke to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with false claims that white South African farmers were victims of the massacre.
Trump hit another tone on Wednesday when he met leaders in Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal, celebrating the country as “a very vibrant place of all that has incredibly precious land, great minerals, great oil deposits, great people.”
He then met with the approval of African leaders. African leaders praised the president, urging them to invest in their country and develop their wealth of natural resources.
Boakai even said that Liberia “will (believe) in the policy that will make America great again.”
Samantha Waldenberg of CNN contributed to this story.
