Donald Trump Kim Jong Un

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the 9/11 observance at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., September 11, 2017.

These are Donald Trump’s nine most outrageous quotes about Africa

Has it already been a year of President Trump?

Donald Trump Kim Jong Un

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the 9/11 observance at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., September 11, 2017.

Credit where credit’s due to the big fella; a year in office is a lot longer than most people thought he’d last. However, Donald Trump’s term has certainly not been a case of plain sailing.

He’s survived accusations of vote tampering, white supremacy and incredibly un-presidential behaviour. But, Donny T just doesn’t know when he’s beaten. Which might explain why he spends so much time on the golf course these days.

He’s a man of strong statements, and that extends to both our country and our continent. The rule is this: If it exists, Trump has said something offensive about it. Mama Africa and Mzansi are no exceptions to this rule…

Donald Trump’s most outrageous quotes about Africa:

Don takes on South Africa…

Obviously, he’s had to gob off about this country at some point. And even more obvious is that he did it from his Twitter account.

1. From 2015, we have this extremely classy summary of our country’s problems. With a deep, incisive take like that, it’s easy to see how he became president

2. This is a lovely little insight into how his mind works. He softens the blow of calling us a ‘crime ridden mess’ by showing his approval for Nelson Mandela. Phew, for a minute there, we thought we didn’t have Donald Trump’s approval.

3. He made himself judge, jury and executioner for the Oscar Pistorius case, too. He compared the case to that of O.J Simpson’s, before insulting the intelligence of Thokozile Masipa…

Trump flexes his geographical knowledge

4. He made a country up last month, didn’t he? Trump said that he was honoured to be joined by many leaders, including those from Nambia… Eh?

Unless Donald knows something about a Namibia and Gambia merger we don’t, we think his geography was a little off-compass on this occassion.

“I’m greatly honoured to host this lunch, to be joined by the leaders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Nambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and South Africa.”

5. Whilst at that same Working Lunch with African Leaders, he revealed his favourite thing about the continent: How he can send his friends here to get rich. It sounded like a compliment, but in a really… colonialist way? You be the judge:

“I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you. They’re spending a lot of money. Really, you’ve done a tremendous job.”

‘Africa is corrupt’

6. You know, you can kind of see where he’s coming from here. Nonetheless, his blatant generalisation of Africa implies that all governments AND citizens are corrupt. Come on now, Donny…

This 2013 Twitter tirade was a foresight into how he values Africa. You’ll notice this list isn’t even a top 10. That’s how little he’s prioritised our region:

He’s an expert on viral disease, allegedly

7. Donald Trump’s rant about sending US soldiers to help the ebola crisis was petty and vindictive. He didn’t want ‘the plague’ being brought back to America. Wow. I mean, how long have you been a WHO medical professional, Mr President?

He even had a go at the soldiers themselves, calling them poorly trained, before calling for a halt to all flights from the USA to West Africa.

8. Of course, he’s an expert on Southern Africa’s animal kingdom too. He showed his support for hunting elephants in Zimbabwe back in 2015. Naturally, he backed it up with no knowledge, sources or evidence. I believe the correct term for this is… Fake News?

9. And of course, that time he pegged the entire continent as a ‘shithole’. Coming from a man who spends most of his time in Trump Tower hotels, he porbably knows what a shithole actually looks like.