Trump referred to President Buhari as ‘lifeless’ – Financial Times
The US president, Donald Trump, referred to Nigeria’s Muhamadu Buhari as ‘lifeless’ while instructing his aides after a meeting with the Nigerian leader in April reports the Financial Times.
Buhari, was the first sub-Saharan Africa president to meet Trump since he was sworn in January 2017, for bilateral talks on Trump’s invitation.
That meeting ended with Trump telling his aides he never wanted to meet someone as lifeless as Buhari again, Financial Times reported citing three persons familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump of the United States (L) poses while President Muhammadu Buhari signs visitors book at the White House in Washington DC on Monday. PHOTO: ICE/NAN
The Financial Times reports that, The United States president Donald Trump referred to his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari as “lifeless” shortly after a meeting between the two leaders on April 30.
Trump's White House and Nigerian government have not reacted to the story published on the same day Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta will be at the White House.
Trump's uncomplimentary comment is a contrast to what Trump said of Buhari at a joint press briefing held after their bilateral meeting.
Trump said he had confidence in the Nigerian president to rein in the “massive corruption” in the country and commended his efforts at doing that.
“Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption. I also know that the President has been able to cut that down very substantially,” Trump said.
“We talked about that, he is working on it and they have made a lot of progress and I think they will continue to make a lot of progress.”
However, Trump is known for his history of gaffes when it comes to Africa.
Before the April meeting between Buhari and Trump, the US president had come under fire for allegedly referring to some African countries as ‘shithole’ at a private White House meeting on January 12. But he denied saying it and labelled his accusers as fake news.
Last week, Trump was accused by South Africa of fuelling racial tension after he tweeted that there was a “large-scale killing of white South African farmers” in the country.
President Trump's tweet came after Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused Ramaphosa, in a segment, of seizing white farmers' lands.
