The Trump administration looks with growing interest in Africa. Last week, Nova Agency reported that an Africom delegation, led by the general John Brennanhad a meeting in Benghazi with the son of Marshal Khalifa HaftarSaddam. From what is learned, the meeting was aimed at “strengthening cooperation on safety between the United States and Libya, as well as support for the efforts led by Libya to reunite military and security institutions”.
The meeting took place while Russia is trying to consolidate its influence in the eastern part of the North African country: a dynamic, this, triggered above all by the Syrian crisis last December. Washington therefore seems worried that the role of Moscow in the area may increase: on the other hand it is not a mystery that, in recent years, the Russians have used the Libyan est as a springboard, to radiate their long manus on large parts of the Sahel. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger gradually inserted themselves into the orbit of Moscow and, in 2023, they also signed a security pact that involves mutual military assistance. A pact that, incidentally, is not sorry at the Kremlin.
In short, it seems that, differently from the first term, this time Donald Trump is more interested in the African chessboard. Recall that, about ten days ago, the American president had ordered bombings in Somalia against some local representatives of ISIS. This means that the current White House is trying to recover influence in the area, especially after the Biden administration had shown signs of difficulty, finding itself forced to collect the US troops from Niger last year. Trumpfor its part, fears the Russian influence on the African continent: an influence that often accompanies the Iranian one. This is a problem that mainly concerns the Sahel, but not only. It is no coincidence that, recently cutting US financial assistance to South Africa, Trump He cited, among the reasons, the increasingly close relationships between Pretoria and Tehran. That same Pretoria which, in 2023, was accused by the Biden Administration of providing armaments to Russia.
Secondly, it is also possible that the current American president points to extend Abraham’s agreements to Maghreb: on the other hand, in December 2020, Morocco had officially recognized the state of Israel. In this respect, it is not excluded that the Trump administration can look with interest especially in Tunisia. If this were confirmed, Italy could play a significant role of mediation especially in the framework of the Mattei Plan. That there is a remarkable political bank between Trump And Giorgia Meloniis not a mystery. Well, this bank could further strengthen itself by looking at Africa. It is also in this perspective that Rome could sooner or later get from Washington a rapid relaunch of the southern side of NATO. What is certain is that it is hardly Trump It will rely on France, now increasingly weak, to recover ground in the African continent.
