When Donald Trump met with the leaders of five different African nations, he was observed making an impolite hand motion. He was telling them to “go a bit quicker” with their spiels. “I don’t want to spend too much time on this,” the president said, cutting off the president of Mauritania. “But, I appreciate it very much. I appreciate it.”
“Um, maybe we’re going to have to go a bit quicker than this because we have a whole schedule. If I could just have your name and country, that would be great,” Trump added.
Under a video of the incident that went viral on social media, one user wrote, “LMAO…nothing screams ‘world-class diplomat’ like telling African leaders to hurry up and just say their name like it’s roll call.” X users criticized the president for what they saw as his rudeness.
“Foreign leaders will soon cease visiting this place. Another person remarked, “Who wants to visit the White House only to be denigrated?” and speculated that the gesture would harm Trump’s future diplomatic attempts.
Trump said he would rather be playing golf than meeting with the African leaders, which led some to think that he was just trying to finish things up so he could get to the golf course on time.
The president threw a surprise multilateral lunch for the presidents of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania, and Liberia after cutting off funds to those nations, which left them reeling from sickness and other problems.
LMAO — Trump gestures to one of the African leaders to wrap it up and then says, “maybe we’re gonna have to go a bit quicker than this, because we have a whole schedule. If I could just have your name and country it would be great.” pic.twitter.com/Weyg26nDOR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 9, 2025
According to a statement from Liberia’s president, the leaders were expected to talk about important areas of collaboration, such as infrastructure, democracy, security, and economic development.
A statement from the White House read, “This discussion and lunch dialogue with African heads of state was arranged because President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners.”
HOLY SH*T 🚨 President Trump evaluated each of the African leaders AT THE TABLE to their Face 🔥
“I like him, him and him. So no I don’t think so”
LMAO I LOVE THIS 🤣 pic.twitter.com/aq48UJSPyo
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) July 9, 2025
The Trump administration’s effort to disband the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other government assistance programs that significantly benefited the African nations seated at the table also coincided with the gathering.
The goal of the summit was to strengthen ties between the United States and African nations, with whom Trump has stated he wants to negotiate agreements to obtain access to their rare earth minerals and other precious natural resources.
