Hariana Veras is a veteran reporter for the continent of Africa, but it wasn’t her journalism that Donald Trump commended her for during her visit to the Oval Office last week.
On June 27, the Angolan journalist spoke to Trump about his recent peace agreement for the Congo. Rather than press her about her reporting, Trump was stunned by her beauty.
He said: ‘I’m not allowed to say that you know, that could be the end of my political career. But you are beautiful and you’re beautiful inside.
‘I wish I had more reporters like you.’
His comments were met with laughter from the rest of the Oval Office.
The Trump administration conducted a deal between the Congo and Rwanda to end decades of fighting on Friday.
Veras arrived at the White House straight from the Congo to discuss the Congolese people and the president’s reactions to the agreement.
She told President Trump: ‘I spoke with the people in the streets… They know your name. They know that president Trump is working hard to finally bring peace to the country.’
‘I saw hope,’ she said. ‘They have hope now for a better day in Congo.’
Veras is an African reporter that covers the White House for the entire continent. She has been working as a correspondent between Africa and the White House for over a decade.
She even covered Trump’s last administration, and has been pressing presidents on this issue for years.
‘For many years American presidents overlooked this conflict,’ she said.
‘People are dying in Congo. This country has so much potential but they need help because this war is destroying the country.’
She noted that Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi was very grateful for what the American president was doing. He even hoped to nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for initiating the end to years of violence.
‘He said you deserve it. You have been working to bring peace in the world, not only in the Congo,’ Veras told him.
After nearly two minutes of hearing flowering compliments about his work and messages of gratitude from the Congolese people, Trump was speechless in return.
He didn’t seem to stumble over his words out of flattery or modesty, instead the first thing he could muster up was a compliment to Veras’s physical appearance.
‘That’s so nice and so beautifully stated,’ he said.
‘And Karoline [Leavitt] said, number one, she did say, and I shouldn’t say this. It’s politically incorrect.’
But the potential political incorrectness of the statement didn’t seem to give the president any pause.
‘She said, she’s beautiful. And you are beautiful.’
He neglected to speak with Veras further on the state of the Congo in favor of commending her appearance.
She graciously accepted his compliment.
Rwanda and the Congo have been at odds since the 1990s. Many have tried and failed to impose peace deals on the two nations. But on June 27, they agreed to a deal the US president is confident will stick, calling it a ‘glorious triumph.’
Trump said on Friday, ‘Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity.’
The deal called for ‘disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration’ of all armed groups in the area.
According to the BBC, it also included lucrative mineral access for the United States.
