Kampala: Ugandan president President Yoweri Museveni has declared his “love” for US president Donald Trump despite recent alleged remarks describing Haiti, El Salvador and other African nations as “s***hole countries”. Trump was accused of making the comment earlier this month during an immigration debate in a closed-door discussion at the White House. It roused the ire of world leaders, including France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and led to thousands of people protesting on the streets of Haiti.
Despite the alleged slight – which Trump denied – Museveni said the US President should be praised for not mincing his words. “I love Trump because he tells Africans frankly,” Museveni said while addressing the East African Legislative Assembly in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
“I don’t know whether he was misquoted or whatever, but he talks to Africans frankly. In the world, you cannot survive if you are weak.” The declaration came shortly after the US ambassador to Uganda, Deborah Malac, apologised for Trump’s controversial remarks. “It is [an] unfortunate comment, yes, obviously for people like me and many of my colleagues who have spent many years working in Africa, have many relationships and friendships across the continent,” she said in a meeting with Uganda’s speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga. “Obviously quite disturbing and upsetting as I know Africans themselves felt.”
Several African nations have expressed shock at Trump’s alleged remark, with the African Union calling on the President to apologise. “Mr Trump’s remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity,” it said. “While expressing our shock, dismay and outrage, the African Union strongly believes that there is a huge misunderstanding of the African continent and its people by the current administration.”
When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked why Trump had defended the comments privately but denied them publicly, she did not deny that it had happened. “The President hasn’t said he didn’t use strong language,” she said. “This is an important issue, he’s passionate about it, he’s not going to apologise for trying to fix out immigration system.” Museveni earlier called Trump an ”honest man” on 1 January at his State of the Nation address.
