US LOBBYISTS PUSH CRITICAL MINERALS FOR SECURITY DEALS In a Central African version of the new wave of transactional politics Congolese politicians have been hiring Washington lobbyists to persuade President Donald Trump's administration to back President Félix Tshisekedi by offering access to critical minerals and the deepwater port at Banana on Congo-K's Atlantic coast (Dispatches 25/2/25 Tshisekedi inks lobbying deal to bag minerals deal with Trump)...

It's conceivable that Abiy would try to use Tigray's volatility combined with the uncertainty created by United States President Donald Trump's uprooting of the international order to try to dethrone Issayas and reclaim Assab...

IncautiousLulled by the perception that the government in Mogadishu was consumed by internal battles election preparations and the consequences of President Donald Trump's aid cuts Al Shabaab exposed its troops and their leaders too far and too early...

When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Ebrahim Rasool Pretoria's ambassador to Washington DC persona non grata on 14 March for criticising Donald Trump and his ‘Make America Great Again' movement Ramaphosa's office described the move as ‘regrettable' – with no obvious hint of retaliation...

The 90-day freeze on almost all United States aid imposed on 20 January by President Donald Trump together with swingeing cuts in assistance by other rich western economies will have immediate socio-economic effects and may also drive radical political change in several developing economies as governments struggle to replace the funds and expertise (Dispatches 28/1/25 Rubio deals hammer blow to US aid)...

It seems the RSF calculates that the new US administration under President Donald Trump is unconcerned about its operations...