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.
During a White House meeting with leaders of African nations, President Donald Trump complimented Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s English pronunciation, even though English is Boakai’s native language. pic.twitter.com/AE2xUXz09H
— ISH✍️🇺🇸 (@ishfaq99173820) July 10, 2025
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.
President of Liberia Joseph Boakai impresses US President Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/9lp0bTwPF1
— Robert Friedland (@robert_ivanhoe) July 9, 2025
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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