US President Donald Trump gave his first address to Congress since his return to the White House at the US Capitol on Tuesday (Mar 4). During his speech he also spoke on some world issues that were not well accepted.

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The South African nation Lesotho expressed its shock at the US President Donald Trump’s remarks that “nobody has ever heard of” the country. While New Zealand’s most senior diplomat in London lost his job over remarks he made about the US President.

South African nation Lesotho hits back

During his first address to the US Congress since his return to the White House, the president defended the sweeping cuts in aid made by his administration.

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“Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of,” Trump said during his speech at the US Capitol on Tuesday (Mar 4), earning laughs from some US lawmakers.

According to AFP, foreign minister, Lesotho's Lejone Mpotjoane on Wednesday (Mar 5) said that their government was “shocked and embarrassed” by the comments made by Trump.

Also read | US Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to freeze $2 bn in foreign aid

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American volunteers serve in the popular Peace Corps programme and the US has an embassy in the capital of the country, Maseru.

“We did not expect a head of state to refer to another sovereign nation in such a manner,” Mpotjoane said.

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“We are not taking this matter lightly,” he added. He further said that they would be sending an official protest letter to Washington.

The country’s main LGBTQ rights organisation denied claims made by Trump of receiving funds from Washington, and the program he referred to is unclear.

“We are literally not receiving grants from the US,” People’s Matrix spokesperson Tampose Mothopeng said.

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“We have no idea of the allocation of eight million [dollars]” he said. 

US aid to Lesotho

According to the US government foreign assistance website, there was no financial support provided for LGBTQ rights in Lesotho. However, it suggested that about $120m had been spent on “health and population” programmes in the country in 2024, including $43.5m for HIV/Aids.

Lesotho, a country with 2.3 million population, is second-highest in terms of dealing with HIV infections globally, with nearly one in four adults HIV-positive. According to the US embassy, the US has committed over $630m to anti-HIV/Aids efforts in the country since 2006.

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Last month, more than 30 non-governmental organisations warned that the country’s HIV programmes were at risk of collapse following a freeze of US foreign aid.

New Zealand diplomat fired

Phil Goff, who is New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the UK, lost his job for making comments on Trump at an event held by the international affairs think tank Chatham House in London on Tuesday (Mar 4).

As posed a question to the guest speaker, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, he mentioned re-reading a famous speech by former British wartime leader Winston Churchill from 1938.

Goff quoted Churchill as saying to then-prime minister Neville Chamberlain, “You had the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, yet you will have war,” referring to Britain’s signing of the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler that allowed Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia.

Goff then asked Valtonen, “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that Goff’s remarks were “disappointing” and made the envoy’s position “untenable.”

“When you are in that position you represent the government and the policies of the day,” Peters said adding, “You’re not able to free think, you are the face of New Zealand.”

(With inputs from agencies)