Zimbabwe's President Says He Offered Donald Trump Land at Victoria Falls to Build a Golf Course
How does this count as a legitimate foreign policy strategy?
The United Nations General Assembly is currently underway in New York City, and as you might suspect there are a lot of attempts by world leaders to gain the favor of other world leaders in the name of foreign policy.
The latest case of this involves Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa,who revealed in a speech at an investor's forum that he offered US President Donald Trump a piece of land near one of Zimbabwe's biggest wildlife attractions, Victoria Falls, in order for him to build a golf course, reports ABC News.
That's correct; a course to play golf.
"I had offered President Trump ground to build a state-of-the-art golf course so that as he plays he can be able to see the big five," said Mnangagwa—referring to wildlife such as lions, rhinos, elephants, buffalo and leopards (lest we forget Trump's offspring's "killer" treatment of wildlife upon their 2010 trip to Zimbabwe).
While it seemed, at first, that Mnangagwa was simply joking, he confirmed that he did in fact make the offer earlier this year to Trump's staffers during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to support Trump's biggest pastime.
Mnangagwa is undoubtedly looking to get on Trump's "good side" (assuming there is one), in order to gain economic investment in the Southern African nation—something the leader has made a top priority since entering office. His quest to cozy up to Western leaders in order to serve his political interests, differs significantly from his predecessor, Robert Mugabe's approach—though they both have overall crooked leadership in common.
Several African leaders, with the exception, maybe, of Rwanda Paul Kagame—who went through with a trade embargo on secondhand clothing from the United States despite threats from Trump—continue to pander to Trump despite his overall lack of sense and blatant disrespect for African nations in order to fuel economic interests. However, their attempts rarely appear to bear fruit. It's obvious that any agreement between Mnangagwa and Trump would be a highly questionable operation.
Earlier this year, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhariwas seen having a "grand old" time with the president upon his visit to the US to the annoyance of many Nigerians. We suspect that Zimbabweans might have felt similarly upon learning of their president's willingness to grant valuable land to Trump for him to live out his Tiger Woods pipe dream on. How does this count as a legitimate foreign policy strategy?
