Senegal PM Accuses Trump of Fuelling Global Chaos
Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, has described US President Donald Trump as a destabilising force, stating the world has become more dangerous since he assumed office.
Sonko made the remarks at an international conference on sovereignty held at the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar. A video of his address was published by Al Jazeera on Friday.
“Mr Trump is not a man of peace. He is a man who destabilises the world,” Sonko said.
The remarks came three days after Washington and Tehran announced a ceasefire, ending a military conflict that had lasted more than six weeks. The conflict was triggered in late February by US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Pointing to the war, Sonko argued that none of Washington’s stated objectives against Tehran had been met. “Reducing Iran’s ballistic capacity has not been achieved. Imposing on Iran to give up any nuclear programme, civil or military, is not an achieved goal. None of the goals have been achieved, and yet the world is plunged into a chaos that nothing can justify,” he said.
Sonko noted that despite months of bombardment and the largest military deployment since the Iraq war of 2003, Washington ultimately had to negotiate with Tehran. The April 8 ceasefire reopened the Strait of Hormuz and initiated talks on a long-term agreement, with both sides accepting a two-week suspension of hostilities.
Sonko challenged the world to assess Trump’s record on global stability since he returned to power. “In the year he has been in power at the head of the superpower that is the United States of America, has the world become safer? Has the world become more secure, more stable, is the world in peace?” he asked.
“And if the answer is negative, what is his exclusive responsibility in relation to this destabilisation of the world, which has apparently become dangerous for everyone, including himself?”
Sonko reviewed a succession of US military operations over the past two decades, from Vietnam to Somalia, pointing to an absence of documented success in each case. He framed the Iran conflict as the latest example of a pattern of military overreach that had yielded more instability than resolution.
Sonko also criticised what he called the hypocrisy of Western governments that publicly condemned violations of international law while simultaneously making their military bases available for operations against Iran. “Deploring the violation of international law and on the other side making available your military bases is not political coherence,” he said.
He also raised the economic consequences of the conflict, pointing to disruption of the Strait of Hormuz as a major threat to global oil and trade flows. Beyond energy prices, he warned of potential disruptions to food supply chains and essential goods, particularly for African nations least equipped to absorb external shocks.
Sonko called for African nations to join forces and pool their power, pointing to the continent’s youth as a force that must be mobilised, saying sovereignty could not be achieved without their involvement.