This is the very awkward moment US president Donald Trump praised Liberia’s leader for speaking ‘such good English’ – despite it being the country’s official language.
During a gathering with several West African leaders at the White House on Wednesday, Trump zeroed in on Liberian president Joseph Boakai to commend his command of the English language.
Trump told Boakai with a broad smile: ‘Such good English.’
He then proceeded to ask: ‘Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?’
The comment, delivered in front of dignitaries and cameras, might have been brushed off as an awkward attempt at flattery.
But Trump didn’t stop there. He added: ‘I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well,’ and gestured toward the other leaders around him.
Boakai, a seasoned politician and university graduate who speaks English as his first language, appeared taken aback by the comment but answered that he had been educated in Liberia.
The country is one of a few African countries whose official language is English.
President Trump had an awkward moment when he praised Liberia’s president for speaking good English
Gesturing at other African leaders at the gathering, Trump said: ‘I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.’
The Liberian leader appeared taking aback when Trump asked him where he was educated
Back in the early 1800s, the American Colonisation Society, funded by members of the US Congress and southern slaveholders, began sending freed Black Americans to settle on the West African coast.
What followed was the foundation of Liberia, which declared independence in 1847 and modelled its government after the United States.
The settlers, known as Americo-Liberians, established English as the language of law, commerce, and education.
To this day, English remains not just the official language but the primary medium of communication across Liberia.
Most politicians, including Boakai, deliver speeches, conduct interviews, and write policy documents in English.
The moment quickly went viral across social media, with some criticising Trump for being ‘patronising’ and ‘ignorant.’
Some West Africans who saw the exchange called the comment condescending and indicative of Trump’s lack of cultural awareness.
Others pointed out that the president’s astonishment seemed even more misplaced given that Liberia’s connection to America is well known.
Many commentators on social media were shocked that the president didn’t know about Liberia’s American ties
Boakai is multilingual and reads and writes in Mendi, Kissi, as well as other Liberian languages
Boakai is multilingual. In addition to English, he reads and writes in Mendi and Kissi, and can navigate several other Liberian languages.
At the gathering, Trump told Boakai, alongside the leaders of Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania, and Guinea-Bissau, that the US intended to establish a relationship of trade, rather than aid.
He said the countries are ‘all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people.’
