African Union chief: Tillerson visit makes up for Trump’s comments

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — All is well now between the United States and Africa with the visit of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the chairman of the African Union commission said Thursday as he received the top U.S. diplomat.

Tillerson embarked on a five-nation tour beginning in Ethiopia with a visit to the African Union. It is the highest-level visit to date for the Trump administration and comes after derogatory comments by President Donald Trump in January outraged leaders around the continent.

“The incident is behind us, the visit by the secretary of state today is proof of the importance of relations between the different parties,” Moussa Faki Mahamet said in a joint news conference with Tillerson. “I want to add I am satisfied with the discussions I had with the secretary of state, notably the engagement of the United States to support Africa in the battle against terrorism.”

For his part, Tillerson ignored two questions about the comments attributed to Trump, only emphasizing the U.S. relationship with Africa, which until now has been largely undefined by the administration.

“I think the U.S. commitment to Africa is quite clear in terms of the importance we place on the relationship,” he said. “The president himself wrote a personal letter to the chairperson reaffirming the importance of the relationship.”

The letter came after Faki himself described the comments to the African Union as “profoundly” shocking and “conveying contempt, hate and desire to marginalize and exclude Africans.”