by Where did you get your great speech?
On a Wednesday afternoon, President Trump and five African leaders were eating lunch in the White House’s State Dining Room. The room was filled with speakers of many languages. In order to hear the translations, everyone wore headsets.
However, Liberian President Joseph Boakai could be understood without a headset. Liberia, which was established in part as a drive to resettle free Black Americans in the 19th century, has English as its official language.
What Mr. Trump heard impressed him.
He said, “Such good English,” following Mr. Boakai’s speech.
Mr. Trump went on, “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” Where? Did you receive an education? Where?
Mr. Boakai began to mutter in gratitude, and Mr. Trump went on: In Liberia? Well, that’s fascinating. That’s lovely English. Some of the people at this table are not quite as good speakers. The room was filled with laughter.
The United States and Liberia have a close relationship. The American Colonization Society, a group founded in 1816 by abolitionists, philanthropists, and some slave owners, and the country’s Back to Africa campaign served as the foundation for it. That group assisted free Black Americans in resettling in what would become Liberia, partly in response to enslaved people’s uprisings.
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