Donald Trump was slammed as a ‘racist’ by a Democratic critic on Thursday after the president appeared to be shocked that an African country’s leader spoke English so well during a lunch meeting at the White House — apparently unaware it is his nation’s national language
Texas Rep. Jasmin Crockett, a frequent Trump foil, took to X to call the president “racist and wrong” for having complimented Liberian President Joseph Boakai on his English skills.
The leader, whose country was founded by former American slaves and has a constitution that is based in large part on the United States Constitution, spoke to Trump during the midday working lunch after several leaders from French-speaking African nations required translation.
The president, apparently having expected another round of translated French, jumped in after Boakai finished.
He said in reply: “Such good English, that’s beautiful — where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
After Boakai told him he’d been educated in the country he now leads, the president called the matter “interesting” and again praised the leader’s “beautiful English.”
The African leader did not appear at all offended by Trump’s gaffe even as it revealed a complete lack of awareness of who Boakai was and the history of his country, but Crockett was quick to attack the president’s motives, writing on X: “Trump never misses an opportunity to be racist and wrong, and every day he finds a new way to be embarrassing.”
“Asking the President of Liberia where he learned English when it’s literally the official language is peak ignorance,” she added.
Trump never misses an opportunity to be racist and wrong, and every day he finds a new way to be embarrassing.
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) July 9, 2025
Asking the President of Liberia where he learned English when it’s literally the official language is peak ignorance.
I’m pretty sure being blatantly offensive is not… https://t.co/Jhvf9dvqZE
The White House hit back with a pointed statement from Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields in which he opined that the Texas Democrat “has the brain capacity of a jellyfish and is the last person on Earth to critique anyone’s mental acuity, let alone intelligence.”
Trump’s lunch with the African leaders, who in addition to Boakai included heads of state and government from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal, also reportedly saw the president ask the leaders to allow his administration to deport migrants from other countries to their own in the same manner that the U.S. has been trying to do in South Sudan and El Salvador.
The plan was presented to the leaders during their White House visit, which was meant to give them an opportunity to pitch trade and other opportunities to the American president.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that an internal State Department document sent to the African governments before the meeting called on them to agree to the "dignified, safe, and timely transfer from the United States" of third country nationals.
