A question about the continuing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo took an unexpected turn Monday when President Donald Trump brought up Ebola instead. White House correspondent Hariana Verás had been pressing Trump over Rwanda’s alleged violations of a peace agreement before he abruptly asked, “How is Ebola going?”
Donald Trump made the remark during an Oval Office exchange
Hariana Verás, the first African journalist accredited to the White House, put Trump’s Congo-Rwanda peace push under the microscope after initially praising his efforts to stop the conflict. She cited the agreement he helped arrange between the nations’ presidents at the White House in December and again in March. Yet the pact has made little headway, with more than seven million people displaced by the violence (via New Republic).
Trump said he would step in if officials verified that Rwanda had violated the agreement. He pointed out that both countries had signed the deal and accepted its terms. “So, well look, I just heard about it a little while ago, if there’s a problem we’ll stop it,” Trump said.
She then brought the discussion down to what she had personally seen. Verás told Trump she had traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo just a month earlier, where she witnessed what she described as continued killings of Congolese people. “And I have evidence,” she told the president.
Trump then abruptly asked Verás, “How is Ebola going?” She told him the outbreak was “under control,” pointing to a recent conversation with the World Health Organization’s director at the United Nations.
Verás nevertheless warned that Congo still needed help dealing with Ebola, while explaining that the ongoing war posed a far more pressing challenge for the country. Trump responded, “I’ll make sure it works out,” and quickly turned to another journalist. For those not in the know, Trump’s administration has cut funding that could have helped African efforts to contain the disease.
