President Trump praised the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda for their courage as they signed onto a deal in Washington on Thursday aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Congo and opening the region's critical mineral reserves to the US government and American companies. "It's a great day for Africa, a great day for the world," said Trump, seizing a fresh opportunity to proclaim himself a peacemaker, the AP reports. "Today, we're succeeding where so many others have failed," he added.
Trump welcomed Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda for the ceremony. Lauded by the White House as a historic agreement brokered by Trump, the pact follows monthslong peace efforts by the US and partners, including the African Union and Qatar, and finalizes a deal signed in June. But the Trump-brokered peace is precarious. The Central African nation of Congo has been battered by decades-long fighting with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The conflict escalated this year, with M23 seizing the region's main cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented advance, worsening a humanitarian crisis that was already one of the world's largest, with millions of people displaced.
Thursday's pact will also build on a Regional Economic Integration Framework previously agreed upon that officials have said will define the terms of economic partnerships involving the three countries. Trump also announced the US was signing bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the US to access critical minerals, per the AP. "And we'll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest US companies over to the two countries," Trump said. He added, "Everybody's going to make a lot of money." The region, rich in critical minerals, has been of interest to Trump as the US looks to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cellphones, and more.
Fighting continued this week in the region with clashes reported between the rebels and Congolese soldiers, together with their allied forces. Trump has often said that his mediation ended the conflict, which some people in Congo dispute. Still, Kagame and Tshisekedi offered a hopeful tone as they signed the agreement. "No one was asking President Trump to take up this task. Our region is far from the headlines," Kagame said. "But when the president saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it." Tshisekedi called the deal a turning point, saying, "I do believe this day is the beginning of a new path, a demanding path." Trump predicted the countries will "begin a new year of harmony and cooperation." Tshisekedi and Kagame did not shake hands and barely looked at each other during the ceremony.
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