Inhofe believes the meeting could be a landmark event. The intersection of Trump and Kagame represents a once-in-a-generation chance to realize Inhofe’s decades-long vision for wholesale changes in the way the United States deals with Africa, he told me in an interview.
The idea that Trump might succeed in building new strategic ties with Africa where others have failed might seem unlikely. The president reportedly used an expletive to disparage the continent. He is skeptical of foreign aid and U.S. involvement abroad. But Inhofe argues that Kagame’s drive for African self-reliance meshes well with Trump’s “America First” ideology.
“It really fits perfectly together with President Trump’s agenda, and he has an opportunity to be a real hero here in an area that I don’t think many people are aware of — but more people are becoming aware of it,” Inhofe told me.
“This meeting is significant, and I think they’ll get along great.”
Inhofe told Trump that Kagame represents the type of African leader the president can do business with. If Trump and Kagame use their time together to get on the same page, he said, big things could happen.
“The timing is right. We have a new administration that’s got a totally different attitude,” Inhofe said. “In Africa, they have this reputation of asking for handouts. Kagame wants to end that. And I think that’s just great. So I wanted to make sure the president was aware of that.”
Inhofe envisions new relationships between the United States and sub-Saharan African countries that move away from a donor-recipient model toward peer-to-peer partnerships. That would mean rethinking foreign aid, focusing on big trade deals and deepening ties to African leaders who are in a position to deliver, despite human rights concerns and other worries.
Inhofe gave a long speech on the Senate floor Tuesday praising Kagame and explaining Kagame’s vision for Africa and African relations with the world. Kagame “wants to end the days of reliance upon foreign governments to solve their problems,” Inhofe said in the speech.
That message could not be better tailored for Trump.
{{Source: The Washington Post}}
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