Donald Trump enquires about where Liberian President learned good English

by Staff Bona

US President Donald Trump complimented the president of Liberia on Wednesday on his English-speaking skills – despite English being the official language of the West African nation. 

Trump was hosting a White House lunch with African leaders on Wednesday, and – after brief remarks from President Joseph Boakai – asked the business graduate where he had picked up his linguistic know-how. 

“Thank you, and such good English… Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?” Trump said. 

Boakai – who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language – indicated he had been educated in his native country. 

He was facing away from the media, making his countenance hard to gauge – but his laconic, mumbled response hinted at awkwardness. 

Trump, who was surrounded by French-speaking presidents from other West African nations, kept digging. 

“It’s beautiful English. I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well,” he said. 

US engagement in Liberia began in the 1820’s when the Congress- and slaveholder-funded American Colonisation Society began sending freed slaves to its shores. 

Thousands of “Americo-Liberian” settlers followed, declaring themselves independent in 1847 and setting up a government to rule over a native African majority. 

The country has a diverse array of indigenous languages and a number of creolised dialects, while Kpelle-speakers are the largest single linguistic group. 

Boakai himself can read and write in Mendi and Kissi, but converses in Liberia’s official tongue and lingua franca – English. 

First published by African Insider 

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