Five months earlier, some of the visiting aides had celebrated USAID’s destruction over cake and speeches in Washington. With that job done, they’d embarked on a world tour of half a dozen cities, including the Kenyan capital. They were granted special permission to fly business class “to help ensure maximum rest and comfort,” according to an internal memo. Thornton alone received authorization to expense more than $35,000 in taxpayer money for the trip. The plan was to conduct exit interviews with USAID’s top experts, who were being forced out of the agency amid the administration’s stated commitment to austerity.
When the U.S. embassy in Nairobi learned of the visit, officials there arranged the dinner with a goal in mind. It would be their last opportunity to explain, face-to-face, the catastrophic impact of Trump’s drastic cuts to foreign aid.
Good luck explaining Trump that it was a very cheap (I’m not talking about the moral side of the question – Trump wouldn’t be able to understand the concept anyway) way to buy the gratitude of the whole nation. Not the current ruler, but all people. And later, if the USA would want to build a military base there for some reason, the locals would most probably just say “yes, build it!”. No money asked. Or the sums would be much less. And neighbours of Kenia would have a better attitude. FOR FREE!
But 10 bucks today is more important to Trump than a million in a week.
I still think Trump is just the clown at the rodeo. He’s old, crazy, about to die of myriad health conditions, and the perfect distraction while a bunch of officials who don’t give a shit about long term planning line their pockets and fuck off.