Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the “best thing for me is to keep quiet” about reports that President Donald Trump called African nations “shitholes” during an bipartisan Oval Office meeting on immigration with lawmakers back in January.
“Well, I’m very careful with what the press says about others than myself,” Buhari said during a joint press conference with Trump on Monday, responding to a question about his response to Trump’s reported derogatory remarks about African countries. “I’m not sure about, you know, the validity or whether than allegation against the President was true or not. So the best thing for me is to keep quiet.”
After a short pause, Trump said the two presidents had not discussed the alleged remarks, before claiming that “some countries” are “in very bad shape.”
“We didn’t discuss it,” he said. “And you do have some countries that are in very bad shape and very tough places to live in. But we didn’t discuss it because the President knows me and he knows where I’m coming from. And I appreciate that. We did not discuss it.”
Reports of Trump’s comments about Haiti and African nations sparked global furor, with many U.S. diplomats being summoned by their host nations to clarify Trump’s comments.
When asked about Trump's vulgar language to describe African nations:
Nigerian Pres. Buhari says, "the best thing for me is to keep quiet."
Pres. Trump adds: "We didn't discuss it. And you do have some countries that are in very bad shape and very tough places to live in." pic.twitter.com/g6SUlLp8r3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 30, 2018
