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Helskini The small mountain nation Lesotho has reacted strongly to Trump’s play that no one has ever heard of the country. Archive image. Photo: TheMBA HUBE/AP/TT
Lesotho residents react strongly to US President Donald Trump’s claim that no one has ever heard of the country.
“We are here, we are proud and we are not your punchline,” writes a journalist and activist at X.
Donald Trump called Lesotho a country “no one has ever heard of” in connection with defending reductions in US aid activities, during a speech to the congress on Tuesday.
He pointed out a former US aid project of $ 8 million to promote LGBTQ rights in the African nation Lesotho.
“As no one has ever heard of,” he added.
“Shocked”
The Lesotho government is “shocked and humiliated” over the statement and will send an official protest letter to Washington.
“We did not expect a head of state to refer to another superb nation in such a way,” said Foreign Minister Lejone Mpotjoane.
On the platform X did not let the reactions wait:
“Lesotho is the only country in the world that is entirely over 1,000 meters, higher than your opinion figures have ever been,” writes the journalist and activist Kananelo Boloetse on the platform X and adds;
“We are here, we are proud and we are not your punchline,” he writes.
It is unclear what aid program
However, exactly what aid program that Trump was referring to is unclear.
On the website of US foreign assistance there is no financial support for LGBTQ rights in Lesotho listed.
However, approximately $ 120 million was spent on “health and population programs” in the country in 2024, including $ 43.5 million to fight HIV/AIDS.
The small mountainous kingdom with 2.3 million inhabitants in southern Africa has one of the highest figures for the disease in the world, where close to one in four adults is HIV positive.