During their meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau heaped praise on Trump, touted their countries' vast mineral resources and made little mention of recent US aid cuts that experts say threaten millions of lives on the African continent.

PresidentDonald Trumppromised West African leaders a pivot from aid to trade during aWhite Housemeeting Wednesday as the region reels from the impact of sweeping US aid cuts.

Trump said he sees great economic potential in Africa as the leaders ofLiberia,Senegal,Gabon,MauritaniaandGuinea-Bissauboasted of their countries' natural resources and heaped praise on the US president, including their thanks for his help in settling a long-running conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Watch moreRwanda-DR Congo peace deal is 'historic', Trump's Africa envoy Boulos says

Trump described the nations represented at the meeting as all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people a definite shift from his first term, when heused a vulgar termto describe African nations.

The meeting comes amid a shift in US global and domestic priorities under Trump's leadership. Earlier this month, US authoritiesdissolved the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and said it was no longer following what they called a charity-based foreign aid model and instead would focus on partnerships with nations that show both the ability and willingness to help themselves.

The five nations whose leaders were meeting Trump represent a small fraction of US-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration and along with Guinea-Bissau are struggling to containdrug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.

In their speeches, each African leader adopted a flattering tone to commend Trump for what they described as his peace efforts across the world and tried to outshine one another by listing the untapped natural resources their nations possess.

We have a great deal of resources, said Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, president of Mauritania, listing rare earths, as well as manganese, uranium and possibly lithium. We have a lot of opportunities to offer in terms of investment.

Last month, the US administration facilitated a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo to help end the decadeslong deadly fighting in eastern Congo, while enabling the US to gain access to criticalmineralsin the region. But analysts said it wont end the fighting because the most prominent armed group said it does not apply to it.

During the meeting, Trump described trade as a diplomatic tool. Trade seems to be a foundation for him to settle disputes between countries, he said.

You guys are going to fight, were not going to trade, Trump said. And we seem to be quite successful in doing that.

He added, addressing the African leaders: There is a lot of anger on your continent.

As he spoke, the US administration continued sending out notifications to developing countries about higher tariff rates effective from August 1. The five Western African nations were not among them.

The portion of the lunch meeting that was open to the press didn't touch much on the loss of aid, which critics say will result in millions of deaths.

Read moreUS foreign aid cuts could cause 14 million deaths by 2030, Lancet study finds

We have closed the USAID group to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, Trump said Wednesday. And were working tirelessly to forge new economic opportunities involving both the United States and many African nations.

West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of USAID. The US support in Liberia amounted to 2.6 percent of the countrys gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.

Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a statement expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit, reaffirming Liberias commitment to regional stability, democratic governance and inclusive economic growth".

During the meeting, Trump reacted with visible surprise to Boakai's English-speaking skills, which he praised. English is the official language of Liberia, which was established in the early 1800s with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and free-born Black citizens from the United States.

Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 countries that might be included in the possible expansion ofTrump's travel ban.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Originally published on France24