Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye appears to be a man on a mission.
President Donald Trump is hosting Faye and other African leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Mauritania at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, as the region manages the impact of U.S. aid cuts following the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this month. Trump previously said that he sees “great economic potential in Africa.”
During his remarks, Faye asked if Trump could tell him his “secret” for “resolving all these complex crises.”
“I know you are a tremendous golf player. Golf requires concentration and precision — qualities that also make for a great leader,” Faye said.
“Senegal has exceptional opportunities to offer, including in the area of tourism. So perhaps an investment could be made in a golf course in Senegal,” he added.
Faye went on to say that it would only be a six-hour flight from New York, Miami and Europe, appearing to hint at the president’s nearby Trump Tower in New York City, his golf club in New Jersey and Mar-a-Lago.
“That would be an opportunity for you to show off your skills on the golf course, too,” Faye continued.
Trump replied to Faye’s request while praising his “fantastic job” in winning the presidency as an opposition candidate last year.
“Somewhere to show off my skills. It’s a long trip to show off my skill. But that’s really nice,” he said.
It is widely known that Trump’s favorite pastime is golfing — and he just spend the Fourth of July weekend again at his Bedminster club. The website DidTrumpGolfToday.com, which tracks the cost of the president’s golfing trips, found that Trump has golfed for 40 days out of the 171 days of his second term thus far, totaling to 23.4%. It claims that taxpayers have spent around $56 million to fund those trips.
Some social media criticized the potential offer. Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, wrote “This is where US trade policy is at” on X. Another user asked, “Why doesn’t he just bribe Trump by buying his crypto sh–coin instead of this brazen bullish–.”
“Embarrassing that this is these are the types of bribe… I mean opportunities foreign leaders feel the need to offer POTUS…,” a different user said.
The five nations whose leaders were meeting Trump represent a small fraction of U.S.-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration and along with Guinea-Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
In their speeches, each African leader adopted a flattering tone to commend Trump for what they described as his peace efforts across the world and tried to outshine one another by listing the untapped natural resources their nations possess.
“We have a great deal of resources,” said Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, president of Mauritania, listing rare earths, as well as manganese, uranium and possibly lithium. “We have a lot of opportunities to offer in terms of investment.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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