Lesotho's foreign minister has expressed shock and embarrassment after US President Donald Trump mocked the southern African nation during his address to Congress, claiming 'nobody has ever heard of' the country. Lejone Mpotjoane told AFP that the government was taken aback by the remarks, which he described as unexpected from a head of state.
During his speech on Tuesday, Trump defended sweeping cuts in foreign aid by singling out a past US project of 'eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho'. He added, 'Which nobody has ever heard of,' prompting laughter from Republican lawmakers.
Mpotjoane said Lesotho is 'not taking this matter lightly' and will send an official protest letter to Washington. The country's main LGBTQ rights organisation, People's Matrix, denied receiving any US funds, with spokesperson Tampose Mothopeng stating, 'We have no idea of the allocation of eight million dollars.'
The US government's foreign assistance website does not list any financial support for LGBTQ rights in Lesotho, a nation of 2.3 million people. Instead, it shows about $120 million spent on health programmes in 2024, including $43.5 million for HIV/AIDS. Lesotho has the second-highest HIV infection rate globally, with almost one in four adults HIV-positive.
More than 30 NGOs warned in mid-February that the country's HIV programmes were at risk after the loss of US foreign aid. When Trump halted virtually all US aid at the beginning of February, volunteers in Lesotho were instructed to stop HIV prevention programming.
