Nigeria has joined a chorus of African voices expressing concern after remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump during a diplomatic lunch with five West African leaders, including Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai, ignited backlash for perceived cultural insensitivity.
At the event held in the White House’s State Dining Room on Wednesday, President Trump praised President Boakai’s command of English — Liberia’s official language — and, in doing so, questioned where the West African leader learned to speak “so beautifully.”
“Thank you, and such good English,” Trump said following Boakai’s brief remarks. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?”
The question, posed in front of fellow West African leaders, drew uncomfortable glances. President Boakai, a U.S.-educated business graduate who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language, responded with a muted reply indicating he had been educated in Liberia. His tone, subdued and faintly awkward, was captured by international media outlets present at the lunch.
Trump, seemingly unaware of Liberia’s historical and linguistic background, added: “It’s beautiful English. I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well.”
The comment has since drawn criticism across Africa, including from Nigerian commentators and officials who view the exchange as a diplomatic misstep that underscores the risks of cultural misapprehension during high-level engagements.
Senior Nigerian diplomatic sources said the comment “reflects a troubling lack of cultural awareness from a leader hosting a meeting with sovereign African heads of state.” A former Nigerian ambassador to the U.S., who asked not to be named, described the remark as “tone-deaf and belittling,” adding, “This is not how diplomacy works. Africa is not seeking validation for speaking colonial languages — we expect respect for our sovereignty, diversity, and leadership.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is said to be monitoring diplomatic feedback following the incident, though no formal statement has been issued at the time of publication.
English is Liberia’s official language — a legacy of its founding by freed African Americans in the 19th century through the American Colonization Society. Thousands of emancipated Black Americans, known as Americo-Liberians, settled in Liberia beginning in the 1820s. The country declared independence in 1847, establishing a government patterned after the U.S. While Liberia has a rich array of indigenous languages, English remains the primary language of government, education, and diplomacy. President Boakai is also known to be fluent in indigenous tongues like Mendi and Kissi.
The diplomatic luncheon was intended to deepen U.S. trade and security partnerships with West African nations and counter the growing influence of China and Russia in the region. The leaders of Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Gabon were in attendance, and discussions reportedly covered mineral investments and regional stability. Yet, it was the moment with Boakai that overshadowed the summit’s aims in media coverage — particularly as Trump seeks to shore up U.S. relations with Africa amid declining aid and a 10% global import tariff that has affected multiple African economies.
Some critics noted the irony in Trump’s surprise at hearing “good English” from a Liberian, given Liberia’s deep historic and linguistic connections to the U.S. One commentator wrote on social media: “Trump asking a Liberian where he learned English is like asking a Canadian why they speak French — the answer is history.”
None of the African leaders present publicly responded to the incident. However, video from the lunch showed mixed reactions — some appeared amused, others visibly stiff.
A diplomatic analyst at Nigeria’s Institute for African Studies, Dr. Ifeoma Ogunleye, cautioned against interpreting the incident as purely offensive but called for better cultural preparedness from world leaders. “We cannot afford to let these things slide as harmless,” she said. “At best, it’s ignorance. At worst, it is diminishing. Either way, it reinforces power imbalances that should have no place in 21st-century diplomacy,” she said.