Africa May Have to Give Up on the United States

US President Donald Trump meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

It was during the recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — just as the lights dimmed, Trump cued up a video presentation, and the whole encounter veered into political theater — when the question hit me: what is this all good for?

More precisely: what is Africa hoping to gain from the Trump administration? Why bother trying to appease a U.S. leadership whose very raison d’etre is to refuse theatrically to be appeased? Who would agree to an U.S. White House meeting knowing that they’ll only be ambushed?

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by Cobus van Staden

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