() President Donald Trump has faced criticism after he asked the president of Liberia, an English-speaking country, where he learned the language.
The exchange happened during a lunch at the White House, where Trump was meeting with the leaders of five African countries, including Liberian President Joseph Boakai.
Because of the multiple languages being spoken, attendees were wearing headsets for translation. During the lunch, Trump turned to the Liberian leader and asked where he learned to speak so beautifully.
Libera was founded in the 1800s, in part as an effort to resettle freed Black Americans who had been enslaved. English is the official language of the country.
Trump appeared to be unaware of the country’s history as he asked where Boakai was educated, before saying he had people at the table who can’t speak English nearly as well.
After the exchange, Trump faced criticism for his gaffe, including a critique from Michelle Gavin, senior director for Africa at the National Security Council for the Obama administration.
She called the comments embarrassing and said it sent a message to Liberians that Trump was unaware of the historic ties between America and Liberia. She also indicated that it was a sign the president was ill-prepared for the meeting.
On X, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, called it “peak ignorance.”
“I’m pretty sure being blatantly offensive is not how you go about conducting diplomacy,” Crockett said.
The Trump administration rejected those remarks, with a White House spokesperson calling it fake news and the State Department’s senior adviser for Africa, who is also Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, maintaining that the remark was a compliment toward Boakai.
The remarks came after Boakai had said he believed in Trump’s policy of making America great again and wanted to work with the president’s team on economic development.
