Pool Report #3 — meeting progresses

President Trump’s translation headphones are in as the leader of Mauritania kicks off the meeting, thanking him for the invitation to the White House.

Mr. Trump is squinting and nodding along with interest as the Mauritanian leader tells Mr. Trump that he is a pacifist who is working hard to solve conflicts around the world from Africa to Pakistan-India and the Middle East.

The Mauritanian leader says his is not a very prosperous country, but nonetheless, it is a great country because of its “strategic position” and that it has “many many resources” and “a lot of opportunities to offer in terms of investments. Mr. Trump grins. “We have minerals,” the Mauritanian leader says. “Rare earth. Rare minerals.”

Mr. Trump thanks him says he appreciates it but then says, “We’re going to have to go a bit quicker than this.”

Message received. The other leaders at the table are now saying hello and giving what amounts to an elevator pitch length description of their respective nations. (“You can count on Guinea Bissau… Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again….”)

Trump compliments the Liberian leader on his “beautiful english” and asks where he was educated.

The leader from Gabon talks about rare earth and minerals “we are not poor countries we are rich countries” when it comes to these resources he said. “I often listen to your remakes and speeches… we also want our raw materials to be processed locally in our country…” He talks of maritime piracy in the gulf of guinea and says they need a reliable partner, militarily. He calls Mr. Trump “pragmatic” and says he is welcome to come and invest.

“Thank you very much, good job,” Mr. Trump says.

On it went down the table in this way…

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Shawn McCreesh

White House correspondent

The New York Times

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