Kingdom of the Sky Responds to Trump’s Mockery: “We Will Not Take This Lightly”
The Foreign Minister of the African state of Lesotho, Lojon Mbotogwan, affirmed that his country was surprised by U.S. President Donald Trump’s mockery, emphasizing that Lesotho will take the matter seriously. He stated, “Lesotho will not take this lightly.”
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Mbotogwan said that the government of Lesotho was shocked and embarrassed by Trump’s remarks, adding, “We did not expect the head of a state to refer to another sovereign country in this manner.”
The Foreign Minister of Lesotho, known as the Kingdom of the Sky, continued: “We do not take this matter lightly,” adding that his country will send an official letter of protest to Washington.
Trump had described Lesotho, a country in southern Africa, as a place “no one has ever heard of before,” while defending cuts to foreign aid during his speech to Congress last Tuesday.
He referred to a previous U.S. aid project worth $8 million aimed at promoting LGBTQ+ rights in Lesotho—an initiative that was not mentioned on the official U.S. foreign aid website. Trump, amid laughter from Republican lawmakers, said in reference to the African nation, “No one has ever heard of it before.”
It is worth noting that Lesotho is officially a kingdom, a landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa. It covers an area of 30,000 km² and has a population of just over two million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru, and it is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
