CHATHAM HOUSE Lunch with Trump: US Africa strategy A lunch at the White House with an unexpected group of African leaders shows Trump’s policy on Africa is active, opportunistic and shaped by personal relationships. Expert comment Published 8 July 2025

 CHATHAM HOUSE 

Lunch with Trump: US Africa strategy

A lunch at the White House with an unexpected group of African leaders shows Trump’s policy on Africa is active, opportunistic and shaped by personal relationships.

Expert comment

Published 8 July 2025 3 minute READ

Dr Alex Vines OBE

Research Director; Director, Africa Programme

On 9 July President Donald Trump will host a business lunch in the White House with the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal. The meeting is focused on ‘commercial opportunities’ that could benefit both American companies and African partners.

The lunch signals that the Trump administration does not intend to ignore the African continent and plans to engage selectively. The aims are clear: to secure mineral deals and supply chains and especially to compete with China.  

This reflects the position set out by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early July, when he stated that the US was abandoning what he called a charity-based foreign aid model in preference to working with nations that demonstrate ‘both the ability and willingness to help themselves’. Going forward, US ambassadors in Africa will be rated on the number of commercial deals they strike. 

This transactional approach to foreign policy is familiar for many African leaders. Indeed, it is a preferred method for some, who will be content to see old US narratives – focused on good governance, human rights and institution building – replaced by deal-making.

The Trump approach

However, the choice of guests for the presidential lunch is a reminder that the Trump administration’s approach can be random. The West and Central African leaders invited come from relatively small economies, most of which are not obvious priorities for the US. 

It would be a mistake to over-interpret this guest list – the invitation to the Liberian President Joseph Boakai was opportunistic, as he was already in the US. But some motives are clear. 

The presidents of Guinea Bissau and Mauritania will no doubt discuss how to address illicit drugs and migration routes.

Including Senegal and Gabon likely shows some intent to reward countries who have recently achieved constitutionally mandated political transitions following elections (especially in the case of Gabon following its 2023 coup). The presidents of Guinea Bissau and Mauritania will no doubt discuss how to address illicit drugs and migration routes.

The jack-pot winner is Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo. With no US Embassy in Bissau, and of minimal US trade interest, his invitation is curious. Embalo has been travelling regularly to Russia, Europe and Asia, depicting himself as an international statesman. 

But he faces significant internal challenges, remaining in office since postponing elections scheduled for December. The legality of his continued administration is uncertain, and Trump’s invitation represents a remarkable show of support for his position.  

Tariffs and Africa

African countries are beginning to see a variability in the Trump administration’s approach. Some new forms of US engagement are far from positive. In April the tiny African nation of Lesotho, which primarily exports diamonds and clothing, received the highest ‘Liberation Day’ tariff of 50 per cent, simply because it did not import goods from the US and had a massive trade imbalance.  

South Africa found itself in the administration’s crosshairs almost immediately, with the White House alleging state-sponsored discrimination against white farmers. Washington is also hostile to Pretoria’s International Court of Justice case against Israel regarding Gaza. 

Trump sent a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 7 July informing him that South Africa faces a 30 per cent reciprocal tariff from 1 August due to trade barriers. Pretoria is anxiously seeking ways to reach an accommodation with Washington, including by offering favourable mineral deals and signalling a willingness to import significant amounts of US gas. 

But the relationship is further tested by South Africa’s BRICS membership. Trump is suspicious of the group and has threatened to impose additional tariffs on BRICS-aligned countries. That could have serious implications for South Africa, as well as fellow BRICS members Egypt and Ethiopia. 

Personal ties

African leaders will also have noticed that individuals with personal ties to President Trump significantly impact his Africa policy. South African-born Elon Musk certainly did in the early days of the administration, regarding relations with President Ramaphosa.

Trump’s Africa diplomacy has been boosted in April by the appointment of Massad Boulos as Senior Advisor for Africa. 

Trump’s Africa diplomacy has been boosted in April by the appointment of Massad Boulos as Senior Advisor for Africa. Boulos already served as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs.

Boulos, an American Lebanese businessman, is father of one of Trump’s sons-in-law. He is fluent in French, and made his fortune selling cars in Nigeria. 

Image — President Trump speaks before a luncheon with African leaders at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2017 in New York. (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Topics

Investment in Africa US foreign policy

Regions

Central Africa United States of America West Africa

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Africa Programme

Article 2nd half

Officials that have worked with him have been impressed by his mediation and deal-making skills and credit him as the main architect of an agreement reached on 27 June in Washington to end the confrontation between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. 

Time will tell whether that deal will stick – and whether Washington will turn from carrots to sticks like sanctions if the deal threatens to fail.

Boulos has also signalled that he plans to meet with foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Washington to revive the ‘Quartet’ initiative and seek an end to the brutal civil war in Sudan, which the UN has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Within the Trump administration individuals such as Boulos, who can cut through to the president, clearly matter. His influence shows how personal relationships can help drive policy towards parts of the world that would not normally be a priority for this administration. 

Opportunity knocks

The lunch on 9 July is the first of a quarterly initiative by the White House to host African leaders. There are plans for a larger US–Africa summit in September around the UN General Assembly. 

African states may find ways to benefit from this administration’s approach.

Like so many initiatives from the Trump administration, they may not happen at all or might occur in a different form. And how effective this transactional approach will be in countering Beijing’s influence in Africa remains to be seen. 

However Trump’s Africa policy plays out, his use of extended family to conduct transactional diplomacy and deal-making is familiar for many African leaders. And, although transactional, the Trump administration’s increasing Africa engagement could present real opportunities. African states may find ways to benefit from this administration’s approach, including through lunch invitations to the White House.