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Former Special Envoy for the Sahel Region J. Peter Pham (shown below left in 2021 with former Ghana President John Kufuor) is expected to become the top Africa official in the new Trump administration, people familiar with the transition told Semafor.
They also said retired Lt. Col. Rudolph Atallah, an Africa expert, is set to serve on the White House’s counterterrorism team. Meanwhile, Trump’s former top African affairs official, Tibor Nagy, announced on Thursday he will be returning to the State Department in a temporary role “beyond just Africa.”
Pham is a veteran player in US-Africa policy circles. One person told Semafor it feels like he has been “auditioning for the role for decades.” Even so, some in Trump’s Republican Party have expressed concerns about rumored picks, questioning their alignment with the incoming president’s disruptive agenda. Trump’s Africa-focused officials will face challenges including the brutal civil war in Sudan, countering Russian and Chinese influence, and strengthening economic ties with the continent.
— Mathias Hammer and Yinka Adegoke
