OP-ED: Trump’s Appraisal, Somalia’s Test: Leadership, Reform, and Global Perception
Somalia once again finds itself judged by a sound bite. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent remarks — widely criticized as dismissive — have stirred fresh debate not just about global perceptions of Somalia, but about the country’s own leadership and the substance of international engagement. That debate matters. Language shapes policy, donor priorities and public attention. But rhetoric is not destiny. Somalia’s future will be determined by the hard work of governance, fiscal reform and security sector performance, as well as by how international partners, including the United States, choose to engage.
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Words carry weight — and limits
When a figure as prominent as a former U.S. president frames Somalia in reductive terms, it reinforces stereotypes that have long distorted the country’s image in Washington, in newsrooms, and across the diaspora. Such rhetoric can complicate diplomacy, discourage investment and narrow the space for nuanced policymaking. Yet focusing exclusively on offense at the message underplays the reality: global perceptions do not emerge in a vacuum. They are shaped by both external narratives and Somalia’s own governance record.
The U.S.–Somalia relationship: strategic, uneven, consequential
The United States has been among Somalia’s most significant partners over the past two decades, combining counterterrorism cooperation, humanitarian assistance, governance support and debt relief. The engagement reflects strategic interests in the Horn of Africa and a humanitarian commitment to one of the world’s most fragile contexts.
Security cooperation against al-Shabaab
Somalia remains a central theater in the campaign against al-Shabaab and related extremist networks. U.S. support has included training, equipping and advising Somali forces, especially elite units such as the Danab Brigade; intelligence sharing; and coordination with multilateral partners. Limited American deployments and enabling support have helped degrade insurgent capabilities in targeted areas. But progress has been uneven. Al-Shabaab retains reach in parts of southern and central Somalia, and persistent insecurity underscores the need for sustained, Somali-led strategies that avoid overreliance on external actors.
Humanitarian lifelines — and the cost of fluctuation
For years, the United States has been Somalia’s largest bilateral humanitarian donor. In fiscal 2023, U.S. assistance totaled about $1.18 billion across humanitarian, governance and economic programs, with nearly 85 percent directed to economic and humanitarian purposes. Those funds supported emergency food and nutrition, health services, water and sanitation, and resilience programs designed to buffer communities from drought, displacement and conflict.
Yet aid levels have not been constant. Reports indicate that funding fell to roughly $128 million in fiscal 2025, a sharp decline from previous years. The consequences are not abstract: health and nutrition programs have closed or scaled back, creating gaps for children and vulnerable populations whose needs are rising as climate shocks and local conflicts intersect. For a country where external support underwrites much of the social safety net, volatility in assistance reverberates across already fragile systems.
Debt relief — a structural opening
Somalia’s completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) process marked a rare bright spot. The move unlocked roughly $4.5 billion in debt service savings and dramatically reduced the external debt burden as a share of GDP. The United States canceled about $1 billion in bilateral claims, signaling confidence in Somalia’s reform trajectory and offering fiscal space for investment in services and infrastructure. That opening is only as meaningful as the policies that follow: budget discipline, transparent procurement, improved revenue collection and investments that yield visible benefits to citizens.
Somalia’s internal test: institution-building over improvisation
International support can enable progress; it cannot substitute for a governing project rooted in accountability and delivery. Somalia’s leaders face acute, well-known constraints that continue to blunt momentum:
- Fragmented political coalitions and elite competition that impede decisive reform.
- Weak public financial management and inconsistent budget execution.
- Limited domestic revenue mobilization and a narrow tax base.
- Dependence on aid for essential services, weakening sovereign capacity and public trust.
These structural weaknesses do more than slow development. They erode negotiating leverage with external partners, invite short-term fixes over durable solutions and fuel public disillusionment. In that vacuum, polarizing rhetoric — foreign or domestic — can fill the space where performance should speak.
The way forward requires dual responsibility
Somalia’s trajectory hinges on two parallel commitments that must be pursued with discipline: strategic international partnership and accelerated domestic reform.
For the United States and other partners, the priorities are clear:
- Anchor engagement in long-term objectives, not news-cycle narratives.
- Stabilize humanitarian and resilience funding to protect core programs from disruptive swings.
- Align security assistance with measurable governance, human rights and civilian protection benchmarks.
- Support fiscal reforms that turn debt relief into sustained development dividends.
For Somali leaders, the imperatives are equally urgent:
- Consolidate political coalitions around a realistic reform agenda and clear timelines.
- Strengthen public financial management, publish timely budgets and audits, and enforce procurement transparency.
- Expand domestic revenues through fair, predictable taxation and better customs administration.
- Invest in frontline services — health, education, water — to rebuild the state’s social contract.
Language should follow policy, not lead it
Somalia’s position in the Horn of Africa — along vital maritime routes and within a complex regional security ecosystem — makes its stability a shared interest. That reality should inform the language used by leaders abroad and at home. Rhetoric that caricatures a nation undermines serious policy. Equally, appeals to national pride are hollow if they are not matched by institution-building, anti-corruption measures and credible delivery.
A sober conclusion beyond the headline
Somalia is more than the worst thing said about it — and more than the best intentions professed on its behalf. The country’s challenges are real; so is the resilience of its people. Progress will depend on a compact: international partners committed to steady, respectful engagement, and Somali leadership focused on results over rhetoric. That is how debt relief becomes jobs and clinics, how security assistance becomes lasting stability, and how perceptions change — not by rebuttal alone, but by performance that leaves no room for doubt.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
