AFRICA POLICY IN TRUMP'S SECOND TERM

Military up, assistance down, and an emphasis on pushing China out. The election of the next president of the United States will be held this November. If he wins another term, Joe Biden's policy on Africa is predictable because he has followed a consistent policy and is unlikely to deviate significantly from that course in the next four years. But, what would Africa policy look like in a second Trump presidential term?Based on the Project 2025 report prepared by a number of major right-wing think tanks and lobbying organizations under the leadership of the Heritage Foundation-along with statements made by leading Republican foreign policymakers and information from the media-the Africa policy that Donald Trump is likely to follow if he wins is also clear.In the view of Donald Trump and his supporters, many of Trump's foreign policy initiatives during his presidency were sabotaged by civil servants and disloyal Trump appointees who delayed or obstructed his decisions and plans. So, to ensure the implementation of the "America First" foreign policy agenda in Trump's second term, the Heritage Foundation and other organizations involved in Project 2025 and Trump's advisors are currently recruiting and vetting dependable, obedient right-wing applicants to install as soon as Trump takes office in 2025. This will end the tradition of political neutrality for personnel working in executive departments and federal agencies, and amount to a purge of all personnel who won't pledge to do whatever Trump demands, however ill-advised, illegal, or unconstitutional it may be. According to the Project 2025 report and other sources, Trump's foreign policy agenda for Africa calls for radical changes in U.S. national security policy toward Africa. To begin with, it argues that it is in the U.S. national interest to increase U.S. reliance on working with the French in North Africa to lead counter-terrorism operations and to counter the military and political involvement of Russia in the region and throughout the rest of the continent. "In North Africa," the report states, "security cooperation with European allies, especially France, will be vital to limit growing Islamist threats and the incursion of Russian influence through positionings of the Wagner Group."