Honestly, Trump pulled a classic Trump move complimented Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s “good English” and then straight-up asked him where he learned it. Kinda awkward? Yeah. But, plot twist: what Trump probably didn’t realize is that Liberia and the US go way back.
Like, way back.
Liberia’s official language is English. Not British English we’re talking American accents everywhere, thanks to some deep historical roots with the States.
So Trump probably just heard that accent and thought, “Hey, this guy sounds like he went to college in Ohio or something.” Nope. Just Liberia being Liberia.
Now, if you’re curious, here’s some stuff about Liberia that people usually miss:
1: Founded by freed slaves
Picture this: 1822 rolls around and freed African-American slaves are setting up shop on the West African coast. By 1847, boom Liberia declares independence.
Thousands of Black Americans and Africans who survived the horrors of slave ships ended up settling there during the whole colonial mess. Former President Abraham Lincoln even gave Liberia the official nod in 1862. The US left a pretty heavy stamp on Liberia institutions, culture, you name it. It was seriously in America’s “sphere of influence” for a long time.
You’ll still catch those American vibes all over the country. Here’s a wild stat: out of Liberia’s 26 presidents, ten of them were actually born in the US. Yeah, for real.
The Americo-Liberians yeah, the descendants of freed slaves who made their way over from the States pretty much ran Liberia like their own private club for a solid century. Not exactly a recipe for harmony, right? No shocker that a bunch of the native Liberians weren’t thrilled about being sidelined in their own country. That tension basically exploded in 1980, when William Tolbert, the last Americo-Liberian president, got straight-up ousted (and killed, yikes) in a messy coup.
These Americo-Liberians? They’re still about a quarter of the population (if you trust Britannica, anyway), and the place is a language buffet over two dozen tongues flying around.
Oh, and President Boakai? The guy’s Kissi, so that’s what he grew up speaking at home before English class came into play. Just a little fun fact.
Now, here’s a quirky bit: Liberia’s capital is literally named after a US president. Like, they just went all-in and called it Monrovia, after James Monroe. Talk about wearing your history on your sleeve.
Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, totally owes its name to James Monroe yeah, that Monroe, the fifth U.S. prez. Guy was all-in with the American Colonization Society (ACS), which, let’s be real, has a pretty wild backstory. They basically cooked up the idea to ship freed African-Americans over to West Africa, and boom, that’s how Liberia popped up.
Walk around Monrovia, and you’ll spot the American vibes everywhere. The buildings? Straight-up old-school U.S. style for a lot of them. And the street names man, it’s like a roll call of colonial America. You keep bumping into names that scream “we’re buddies with the States.” Even the main hospital’s called the John F Kennedy Medical Centre. JFK’s legacy lives on in Liberia, apparently.
Oh, and here’s a fun twist check out the flags. Liberia’s flag? Looks suspiciously like the U.S. one, just with a bit of remixing. You’d be forgiven for double-taking, honestly.
Liberia’s flag? Yeah, it’s basically the American flag’s younger cousin. You’ve got 11 red and white stripes doing their thing, then a blue box with just one star hanging out in the corner like, “Hey, I’m special.” That solo star? It’s a nod to Liberia being the OG independent African republic. Kinda bold, honestly.
Now, the US flag everyone knows this one has 13 stripes (those are for the original colonies) and then fifty stars, one screaming “I’m a state!” for every state.
Here’s a cool twist: seven Black women, all born in the US, actually designed Liberia’s flag. How’s that for a plot twist in world history?
Oh, and just to throw in a random fact bomb: Liberia’s ex-president’s kid? He suits up for the US football team. Wild world, right?
Alright, let’s cut through the Wikipedia noise. Timothy Weah you might know him as the guy with wild pace down the wing for Juventus and the USMNT yeah, his dad’s that George Weah. Not just a soccer legend, but Liberia’s ex-president. Talk about a family flex.
Timothy’s actually American, born and raised, but his career kicked off in France with PSG. Imagine starting out surrounded by Neymar and Mbappé no pressure, right? Won Ligue 1 there, did a stint at Celtic up in Scotland, then bounced over to Italy to play for Juve. Kid’s racking up frequent flyer miles and trophies.
Now, about his dad George Weah’s basically soccer royalty in Africa. Dude snagged the Ballon d’Or back in ’95 (still the only African ever to win it, by the way) when he was tearing it up at AC Milan. Juventus fans probably still have flashbacks. After that, George just casually became president of Liberia, because why not? Oh, and just to clear it up he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize. That one’s a mix-up. But yeah, the Weah family? Not your average weekend barbecue crowd.
Alright, let’s get real for a second. Liberia? That place made history like, actual history books by electing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president chosen by the people. Wild, right? She snagged the top job in 2005, just a couple years after the country’s brutal civil war finally fizzled out. Talk about walking into a hot mess.
Ellen wasn’t just some local politician either she’s got serious American street cred. Studied at Madison Business College, did the whole Harvard thing, came out an economist. Not too shabby. The world noticed, too; she picked up awards left and right for keeping the peace while she was running things.
Honestly, her whole life reads like a Netflix drama full of guts, stubbornness, and outsmarting the odds. And then in 2011, boom: she gets the Nobel Peace Prize (she shared it with Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karmān, because, you know, girl power and all that). Fast forward to 2016, and Forbes had her up there with the most powerful women on the planet.
Not your average politician, huh?
Firestone Liberia? Massive operation185 square miles of rubber trees, basically a small city of latex. The whole thing’s owned by a branch of Firestone from the US, which, yeah, is the tire company you’re thinking of.
This setup goes way back. 1926. America wanted in on rubber, but the Brits were basically gatekeeping the whole game, so Firestone rolled into Liberia. Fast-forward, and they’re still the biggest private employer in the country. Over 4,000 folks on the payroll. That’s a lot of jobs, but the company’s reputation? Oof, not exactly squeaky clean.
Honestly, people have been calling out Firestone for shady stuff almost since day one. Human rights stuff think lousy working conditions, barely any training, no real safety gear. A UN report from 2006 didn’t pull punches: workers got exposed to nasty, hazardous work, weren’t paid fairly, couldn’t strike, and, yeah, kids were working there too. Firestone? They always say, “Not us!” And in 2011 a US court actually sided with them on the child labor thing.
Still, rubber is big business for Liberia, and the US just keeps buying it up. No shock there.
Now, about Trump’s comments wow, that was a moment. Liberia’s Foreign Minister, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, played it cool, saying the world just doesn’t get how many languages people speak in Africa. She called it a “multi-lingual continent” (which, yeah, is an understatement). She figured Trump just heard President Boakai’s American-style English and thought it sounded familiar. “No offense taken,” she told the BBC. Behind the scenes, apparently, there was some talk about the countries’ shared history.
But, let’s be real, not everyone in Liberia was shrugging it off. Joe Manley, an accountant (guy’s 40, so he’s seen a bit), told the BBC Trump should’ve done his homework before meeting their president. “Liberia’s always been an English-speaking country,” he said. “Our president stands for a country with a legit educational tradition.” Basically: Maybe next time, do a quick Google, Don.
Honestly, for Henrietta Peters Magbollah yeah, that’s the HR pro we’re talking about the fact that the US president seemed shocked by Boakai’s way with words just screams “global cluelessness” about Africa. She basically said, look, when you travel around, you realize most folks outside Africa barely know the first thing about the place. And the ones who think they know something? Yeah, their brains are stuck on those tired old stories about war, poverty, and everyone being uneducated. Yawn.
Now, Kanio Gbala, who’s both a lawyer and a politician (double trouble), wasn’t bothered. He pretty much sided with the foreign minister, saying, “Nah, no shade thrown here.” According to him, Trump just meant it as an honest-to-goodness compliment about Boakai’s English. No sarcasm, no hidden digs just straight up. If you’re reading it as disrespectful, Kanio says, maybe you’ve got your own political beef.