Maseru, Lesoto (AP) – President Donald Trump says no one has ever heard of Lesoto. The Foreign Minister of the African Little Kingdom tells the Associated Press that Trump must “speak itself”.
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“I am surprising and disappointing that he claimed that no one knows Lesoto, especially given that the US has an embassy here,” Minster Leight Mipotjane, the day after Trump’s disappointing commentary in a congress speech caused some laughter. “He must speak for himself and not generalize.”
Mipotjane said Trump seemed to take Lesoto because it is not a rich place, but warned: “One day America may need Lesoto’s support.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhslselzr_8
In fact, Trump’s main adviser Elon Musk has already sought it.
Trump mocks Lesoton while criticizing several US foreign aid contracts as a loss of money in his 99-minute speech on Tuesday.
“Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African country of Lesoto, which no one has ever heard of,” Trump said, struggling to pronounce the correct name as vice president JD Vance and Mike Johnson’s home, sitting behind him, upset.
But Musk in September was meeting with Lesoto’s Prime Minister, Sam Matekane, while trying to do business with the South African nation.
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Musk’s Starlink Satellite Service, a spacex branch, has applied for a license to operate in Lesoto. One of the some African countries where he is making offers to win contracts. The Lesoto Communication Authority said last month that recently received Starlink’s offer for a 10-year license.
Musk was born in South Africa, which surrounds Lesoto and its 2.3 million people.
He met with matekana on the United Nations General Assembly margins in New York. Math posted a photo on x from them shaking hands. The message said in part: “Exhaustive developments stand ahead.”
But Musk has also been useful in dismantling the United States Agency for International Development in its role as Head of the New Government Efficiency Department.
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These cuts have threatened the Lesoto HIV program and forced him to rest at least 1,500 health workers – about 7% of the country’s health staff – in what the government has described as a severe blow. American aid is credited by helping Lesoto provide life -saving treatment for more than 200,000 people living with HIV.
Lesoto has received US help for nearly 20 years through USAID, which gave it over $ 44 million last year. Dismantling the agency and widespread conclusions of US foreign aid contracts have hit Africa more difficult than any other region.
Lesoto’s Foreign Minister, asked about Trump’s comment on the promotion of LGBTQI+ in his country, said he was unaware of the $ 8 million contract that Trump mentioned because USAID funds were channeled mainly through non-governmental organizations. The minister did not comment on US aid cuts.
Lesoto repealed its laws against homosexuality in 2012, but the same sex marriages are not yet recognized, and activists say LGBTQ people face stigma and discrimination.
This was not the first time Trump has been contempt for Africa. During his first term, he used a raw explanatory that refers to a pit to describe some African countries.
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.