President Donald Trump lauded praise on Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s English skills Wednesday, seemingly unaware that English is the country’s official national language and that the U.S. played a major role in the nation’s development.
“Such good English. That’s beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” Trump asked Boakai during a White House lunch with African leaders.
“Where? Were you educated? Where? In Liberia? Well, that’s very interesting. It’s beautiful English,” Trump continued as Boakai appeared to laugh politely. “I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well.”
English is the primary language spoken in Liberia, and much of its population is made up of the descendants of African Americans who fled slavery in the United States.
The country was first established as a colony in 1822 by the American Colonization Society ― made up of slavery-opposing Quakers and slaveholders fearing rebellion from freed slaves ― who sought to resettle freed and freeborn Black Americans in Africa. Liberia declared its independence in 1847, and the U.S. recognized it in 1862.
