Former United States President Donald Trump has once again drawn criticism for comments made regarding African nations—this time targeting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Lesotho in a manner that has raised both diplomatic and public concern.
Speaking at the White House during a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump addressed issues around immigration, specifically highlighting what he claimed to be an influx of individuals entering the United States from various countries. In his remarks, he implied that foreign prisons had been emptied, allowing inmates to cross into America illegally.
“I do not know what that is, but they came from the Congo and all over the world they came in,”
Trump said, seemingly referring to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite acknowledging limited knowledge of the country, he proceeded to associate its nationals with unlawful migration.
“Many illegal immigrants in the US come from there,”
he claimed, without citing evidence or specific data to support the statement.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second-largest country on the African continent, both by land area and population, with over 100 million inhabitants. It shares its western border with the Republic of the Congo and holds significant geopolitical and economic relevance in central Africa. The country has faced historical instability and ongoing challenges, but remains home to a rich diversity of cultures, languages, and mineral resources critical to global supply chains.
Lesotho’s Reaction to Earlier Remarks
Trump’s recent remarks are not his first to cause friction with African states. In March, during a separate public address, he referred dismissively to the Kingdom of Lesotho—a small, landlocked country in southern Africa that has longstanding diplomatic relations with the United States.
“No one has ever heard” of Lesotho,
Trump quipped, referencing the $8 million in aid the country received from a previous U.S. administration for international development projects. The comment prompted swift reaction from Lesotho’s government.
Lejone Mpotjoane, Lesotho’s Foreign Minister, expressed dismay over the former U.S. president’s comments.
“I’m really shocked that my country can be referred to like that by the head of state,”
Mpotjoane told *Reuters*.
He continued, denouncing the statement as both disrespectful and diplomatically inappropriate.
“It was quite insulting and disappointing for the leader of a country that maintains a diplomatic mission in Lesotho to speak in such a manner,”
he added.
