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President Donald Trump will host five African leaders for lunch at the White House on Wednesday, with discussions likely to cover a range of topics, including commerce and trade.
The presidents of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon—all nations located along Africa’s Atlantic Coast—will gather at Trump’s invitation. Officials from these countries have indicated to AFP that they expect conversations in the State Dining Room to focus on trade, investment, and security, among other subjects. However, the White House has offered few concrete details about its intentions for the meeting.
Trump Administration Priorities
This gathering aligns with the Trump administration’s strong focus on tariffs and trade deals, as well as its push to secure a stable supply of critical minerals. Interestingly, the five invited nations do not possess the extensive mineral wealth found in other African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting also takes place just days after the Trump administration celebrated the official closure of USAID, the U.S. foreign aid agency, framing the move as an end to the “charity-based model.” Officials from the five African countries seem keenly aware of this White House philosophy.
Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai accepted the invitation with the goal of no longer being “solely (an) aid recipient,” his press secretary Kula Fofana told AFP on Tuesday. She added, “Our interest is to look more to trade and engagement partners who will invest.” Similarly, Gabonese presidential spokesman Theophane Biyoghe viewed the meeting as an opportunity for synergies “centred around the industrialisation of our economy.”
Competition and Security Concerns
The timing of this meeting is also noteworthy given that China and Russia, major U.S. rivals, have significantly increased their presence in the region. Beijing, for instance, has made substantial investments in several of these African nations. Meanwhile, Moscow has extended support to the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which comprises junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—countries that share borders with several of the nations attending Wednesday’s lunch.
Security and drug trafficking are also potential topics on the White House agenda. In April, Guinea-Bissau reported turning over four convicted Latin American drug smugglers to the U.S. DEA drug enforcement authority. The country is frequently used as a transit zone for moving cocaine from Latin America to Europe and beyond.
Shortly before his departure for Washington, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo described the visit to the press as “very important” for his country. He declared, “Economically, this is a great opportunity opening for us,” and expressed hope that his country would also benefit from “the support” the United States provides to other nations.
Precarious Visits
It’s worth noting that several world leaders have faced challenging political situations during their White House visits under Trump. This includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who became entangled in a well-known dispute with Trump, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. During his visit, Trump showed the South African leader a video containing baseless claims of a “white genocide” in his country.
While those incidents occurred in front of cameras in the Oval Office, the five African presidents meeting Trump on Wednesday are not currently scheduled to appear before the press. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt provided minimal details during a briefing on Monday, only stating that Trump would “host leaders of five African nations for lunch” in the State Dining Room.
Adding another layer to the context, Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal are among 36 nations that the United States is considering adding to a travel ban, which would bar entry to its territory, according to an internal administration memo from last month.
