“Africa is a continent of tremendous, tremendous potential and is growing very very fast economically and many other ways. You have done a terrific job, you are facing tremendous obstacles placing you back but you have done a really absolutely incredible job…” the words of Donald Trump when he met a group of eight African leaders in September 2017.
Trump will, however, go down as the first United States president in recent times to not step foot in Africa during his time in the White House. His first meeting with an African leader was with Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Washington in April 2017.
Trump also attracted the ire of Africa and Africans with some of his pronouncements, especially the infamous “shithole continent,” which he flatly denied.
This piece looks at how the Trump presidency specifically interfaced with Ghana as a country. From meetings between the two leaders, Trump linked visits and social media “face offs” thrown from Accra towards DC.