Washington – Barely 24 hours before President Donald Trump sat down for a lunch dialogue with African heads of state from Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, and Gabon, the five African leaders gathered for a Tete-a-Tete to prepare for any unexpected scenarios, given what many heads of state have had to endure since the US President came to office in January.
By Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
The gathering, according to sources privy to the discussions prepared for unexpected surprises, key amongst them, were reports that the Trump administration is contemplating pushing the leaders to accept migrants deported by the U.S. whose home countries refuse them or are slow to take them back.
Wednesday’s summit was preceded by a Wall Street Journal report, quoting internal document and current and former U.S. officials about the plan. But many of the leaders at Wednesday summit did not see the possibility of such a request – and nothing of such was mentioned publicly when the leaders and Trump faced the media gallery Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the WSJ reports that prior to the meeting, the leaders of the five countries, received a request from the State Department to take in migrants, underscoring the overlap between the administration’s aggressive deportation campaign and its foreign policy.
At the end of May it was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who arrived at the Oval Office with hopes of mending a somewhat tricky relationship between the United States and South Africa, but ending up having to duel it out with the US President despite trying to court him with business opportunities and his favorite sports, golf.
The US President turned the meeting into a sea of accusations, repeatedly suggesting that genocide against white farmers is taking place in South Africa, an allegation denied by Ramaphosa.
In February, it was the war of words between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom President Trump accused of being “disrespectful” in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting, that abruptly called off the signing of a minerals deal that Trump said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia.
Sizing up to Trump
On Wednesday, another opportunity presented itself for President Trump to size up a quintet of African heads of states in a meeting that shore up a shifting US policy toward the continent. “There’s great economic potential in Africa, like few other places,” Trump said, touting its “very valuable lands, great minerals, great oil deposits.”
The President has made his administration’s focus on a shift from aid to trade, coming on the heels of the ending of the the United States Agency for International Development, officially on July 1, 2025. The agency’s functions have been largely transferred to the State Department as part of a broader restructuring of U.S. foreign assistance, with a focus on aligning aid with national interests and diplomatic goals.
This was evident only few days ago when the Trump administration signed a major minerals agreement with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a broader U.S.-mediated ceasefire that has been touted as a potential turning point in efforts to end decades of violence in the region. The U.S. would be getting “a lot of mineral rights” from Congo as part of the agreement, Trump declared after that meeting.
Wednesday’s summit, although initially rejected by Mr.Trump offered something new, a chance for President Trump to right some of the wrongs to the continent in his first term, during which his presence was hardly felt.
For President Trump, the pitch, coming on the heels of major immigration reforms hitting many of the continent hard, had a difficul message to sell, that the Trump administration is shifting the U.S. approach to the continent from aid to trade and that the United States is a better partner for Africa than China.
A tough sell for an administration that has so far cut off the U.S. Agency for International Development and slashed funding for programs that help Africans.
Despite those visible trends, President Trump insists that his administration is committed to strengthening friendships in Africa, with a promise to visit the continent at some point during his second term as President.
President Trump lamented that, in many ways, in the long run, this will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we can be doing together.
Heaping Praises, Earning Points
For the five leaders in attendance, Wednesday’s summit offered a chance, not so much to pitch their most pressing needs, but an opportunity to heap praises on the U.S. president for brokering peace deals around the world while expressing support for his Nobel Prize nomination. Playing on President Trump’s good side is one way, they believe they could get on the President’s good side and earn brownie points.
And the praises kept pouring in. Liberian President Joseph Boakai, for his part, said he supported Trump’s efforts to make “America great again,” a reference to Trump’s political slogan, and encouraged U.S. investment in his country.
Trump praised Boakai’s English and asked him where he had learned it. Liberia was founded by freed slaves from America and English is its official language; Boakai said he learned it there.
What many of the leaders shared in common was a willingness to allow the US into their mineral spaces. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, president of Gabon said: “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. You are welcome to come and invest. Otherwise, other countries might come instead of you.”
It was a sentiment shared by Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai who called on the United States government to send experts to Liberia to conduct a comprehensive survey of the country’s mineral resources as part of a broader appeal to attract U.S. investment and deepen economic cooperation between the two nations.
President Boakai emphasised Liberia’s potential as a resource-rich nation eager to strengthen its longstanding ties with the United States through meaningful economic partnerships. “Liberia has a lot of minerals,” President Boakai told Mr. Trump.
Liberia’s Invitation to Survey Minerals; China Already Did
The Liberian President added: “One of the things we have asked of you, as our long-time friend, is the opportunity to do a proper survey of our mineral resources. This will help open the door for greater American investment.”
President Boakai underscored that Liberia is seeking technical assistance and private sector engagement from the U.S. in exploring its natural wealth, including gold, iron ore, diamonds, and rare earth elements, while ensuring transparency and sustainable development.
The Liberian leader used the occasion to encourage the American business community to explore investment opportunities in Liberia’s mining, energy, and agriculture sectors, stressing that his administration is committed to creating a stable and investor-friendly environment. “We would like to see more American companies coming to Liberia. We welcome your expertise, your capital, and your partnership in helping Liberealiselize its full potential.”
In addition to economic cooperation, President Boakai also pledged Liberia’s continued commitment to peace and democracy, noting the country’s record of holding peaceful elections and maintaining stability in a volatile West African region.
He expressed appreciation to President Trump for the platform to discuss shared priorities and reaffirmed Liberia’s readiness to work with the United States on broader issues of peace and security in the region.
President Boakai’s call for the US to survey comes just months after, a China-funded national survey on mineral resources led to the discovery of significant new mineral deposits in Liberia, offering fresh opportunities for the country’s development.
The survey — the largest of its kind in Liberia in 50 years — identified valuable minerals such as lithium, neodymium, silver, nickel, zinc, uranium and cobalt. These findings could allow Liberia to diversify beyond its traditional reliance on iron ore, rubber, gold and diamonds, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
In fact, President Boakai in his annual message in January, said he was pleased about the report from the Chinese. Said the President: “This report provides new insights into Liberia’s mineral resource potential and represents the most comprehensive scientific investigation conducted in over five decades. We extend our gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for funding this important project. The Ministry of Mines and Energy has already analyzed the data from this survey, and the results indicate a significant shift away from the country’s previous sole focus on iron ore, diamonds, and gold. We have discovered lithium, neodymium, silver, nickel, zinc, uranium, chromium, lead, tin, cobalt, niobium (coltan), tantalum, manganese, copper, zirconium, and monazite, amongst others.”
China Making In roads as US Falters
With China and other world super powers looking to pounce on the new US shift away from Africa, President Trump’s Africa summit is seen by many as the latest effort by successive U.S. administrations to counter perceptions of U.S. neglect of a continent as others are making inroads.
Even more troubling, besides not visiting the continent during his first term, President Trump reffled feathers with his label of some African countries as “Shithole”, drawing mounting criticisms from many countries.
The underlying factor for the Trump administration’s latest policy shift is that all five African countries visiting the White House Wednesday, have abundant natural resources, including manganese, iron ore, gold, diamonds, lithium and cobalt, which are essential for use in current technologies. China has invested heavily across the continent in recent years, especially in resource extraction. More importantly, they all expressed a willingness to allow the US to explore.
At a time however, when many on the continent are raising eyebrows over President Trump’s trade and tarfiff policies, it remains to be seen how the continent’s commercial appeal fits in to how President Trump and his adminstration capitalize on not just what Africa has to offer, but what new, can the US offer a continent unearthing enormous potentials in abundance.
