US President 'Deeply Respects' Africans in Letter to AU Summit

The remarks were made in a letter addressed to African leaders ahead of the 30th African Union Summit that is underway in Addis Ababa, Africa News reported.

Trump’s letter dated Thursday 25 January, says the US “profoundly respects” the partnerships and values shared by the US and Africans and that the President’s commitment to strong relationships with African nations is “firm.”

The US President had asked why so many people from “s***hole countries” like El Salvador, Haiti and specific African nations come to the US, and suggested the United States should take in more immigrants from countries like Norway instead.

Trump became furious during a meeting at the White House days ago, saying “Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?”

The controversy sparked a strong backlash, both in the US and internationally, with Trump’s opponents accusing him of flat-out racism, and countries he allegedly insulted demanding explanation and apologies.

Several African Presidents reacted angrily to the ‘s***hole’ reference, summoning diplomats attached to their countries to explain their President’s position on Africa while the African Union ambassadors in the United States demanded a retraction and apology from Trump.

The US President denied being “racist” in the wake of a scandal and wide condemnation triggered by his alleged reference to African nations as “s***holes”, stressing that “I’m not a racist. I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that I can tell you."

But Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, stressed the President had used “vile, vulgar” language, including using the word “s***hole” when speaking about African nations.

The Trump administration has said Haitians will no longer be eligible for US visas given to low-skilled workers, bringing an end to a small-scale effort to employ those who came to the United States after the catastrophic earthquake in 2010.

DHS stressed in a regulatory filing that it was removing Haiti from lists of more than 80 countries whose citizens can be granted H-2A and H-2B visas, given to seasonal workers in agriculture and other industries.

It cited what it said were “high levels of fraud and abuse” by Haitians with the visas, and a “high rate of overstaying the terms” of their visas.