LESOTHO’s government says it is shocked by US President Donald Trump saying that “nobody has ever heard of” the southern African nation.
Trump, addressing the US Congress in his first speech since his return to the Oval Office, made the reference as he listed cuts made to what he said was wasteful expenditure.
“Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of,” Trump said, eliciting laughter from some US lawmakers.
A spokesperson for Lesotho’s foreign affairs department told the BBC that Lesotho enjoyed “warm and cordial” relations with the US.
Lesotho is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which gives favourable trade access to some countries to promote their economic growth.
According to the US government, the two countries traded goods worth $240m (£187m) in 2024, mostly exports from Lesotho to the US, in particular textiles and clothing.
Lesotho’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lejone Mpotjoane said it was “shocking” to hear a head of state “refer to another sovereign state in that manner”.
“To my surprise, ‘the country that nobody has heard of’ is the country where the US has a permanent mission,” Mpotjoane told the BBC.
“Lesotho is a member of the UN and of a number of other international bodies. And the US has an embassy here and [there are] a number of US organisations we’ve accommodated here in Maseru.”
He later told the AFP news agency: “We are not taking this matter lightly,” adding that they would send an official protest letter to Washington.
