Trump Decides to Postpone the Scheduled Summit with Africa

SadaNews - President Donald Trump has decided to postpone the summit that was scheduled between the United States and Africa alongside the General Assembly of the United Nations next month.

According to sources speaking to "Africa Report", the issue of holding the summit is no longer on the table due to the busy schedule of the U.S. administration and a lack of staff. Currently, the White House does not have enough time to host a gathering of so many presidents and officials.

The same sources indicated that the summit could potentially be postponed until the spring of next year, and it may be held in the capital Washington instead of New York.

Earlier this year, a senior official at the U.S. State Department stated that the U.S.-African summit would take place this year under different themes, discussing prospects for investment and economic cooperation instead of issues of wars and armed conflicts.

However, with the ongoing Gaza war and the conflict in Ukraine, the summit lost momentum due to the administration in the White House being occupied with these matters. Additionally, the team dealing with African affairs has become exhausted from monitoring the situations in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Deveer Mont, the former director for African affairs at the National Security Council during the Biden administration, stated that postponing the summit may cause shock and deepen skepticism about considering Africa a priority, but it was the right decision. It could have turned into a disaster had it been organized haphazardly.

If the summit does not take place this year, the president would have violated legislation passed in December 2024 mandating a summit between the United States and Africa every two years. However, Trump is not known for his strict adherence to laws, and he might argue that the small meeting he held on July 9 with the presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal meets this obligation.

Source: Agencies