Pro-Buhari group: Trump’s disrespect for world leaders is not new

August 27, 2018 9:55 pm

U.S. President Donald Trump makes a statement about Syria at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says President Donald Trump has a penchant for making derogatory statements about world leaders.

The group said this in reaction to a report by Financial Times that the US president told his aides he never wanted to meet someone as lifeless as Buhari again.

He reportedly said this after meeting his Nigerian counterpart in April.

In a statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju, its chairman, the group said Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years “regardless of Trump’s hate speech”.

“We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect for world leaders is not new; his comments on Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, calling him ‘meek and mild’; his reference to Germany’s leader, Angela Merkel’s actions as ‘insane’, or his outlandish tweet at the UK’s Theresa May, and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari,” the statement read.

“It is indeed not the first time President Trump would be heard to lower the standards of respect for his colleagues on the world stage. We are not surprised, we know that this age-long character of the US President would not change anytime soon. But it is important that we put it on record that President Buhari remains fit and sprightly, even for the next decade.

“We recall that during President Buhari’s visit to Trump in the White House, the US president commended the successes that the Buhari administration had recorded especially in the fight against insurgency and the war on corruption.

“The US president was full of admiration for Nigeria’s president during the visit, thus such outlandish remarks as reported by the Financial Times are not just to be taken with a pinch of salt but are untrue in themselves.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years President Donald Trump’s hate speech notwithstanding.”