NEW YORK — President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso told Breitbart News exclusively here on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that he is encouraged by American President Donald Trump’s worldwide push to link peace deals to economic prosperity.
Nguesso sat with Breitbart News for a nearly hourlong exclusive interview in his hotel suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan a few hours after Trump addressed the UNGA. Nguesso, who speaks French, spoke to Breitbart News through a translator about his country’s relations with the United States as well as his views on Trump. Nguesso has served as president of the Republic of Congo since 1997 and previously served in the role from 1979 to 1992 as well. His tenure makes him one of the longest serving world leaders anywhere on the planet, and he has dealt with every American president dating back to Jimmy Carter’s administration.
President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso is interviewed by Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 23, 2025. (Courtesy of the Republic of Congo)
“We have just watched President Trump’s speech to the General Assembly,” Nguesso said. “And I remembered, for my part, the two main things is that President Trump insisted on peace problems. He even said that if he was in power back then, war between Russia and Ukraine would not have taken place in the first place. The second aspect is the matter of development and growth for every people, every country. My own career has marked by issues of peace and development. There’s always thought that without peace there could be no development. As a world leader, he’s been implying himself in several different cases in order to try and achieve peace.”
Nguesso pointed to several examples in his career in the 1980s and 1990s when he was involved in peace efforts throughout Africa. “I for example, at the end of the 80s early 90s, in Brazzaville, we organized negotiations on Southern Africa which resulted in agreements and the liberation of Nelson Mandela, the independence of Namibia, and the end of Apartheid,” Nguesso said. “These negotiations took place in Brazzaville and we have ensured coordination in these negotiations. We’re also involved in other cases in Africa, like the Central African Republic, where we have been implied for several years now. We were part of the group of five heads state in 2011 who met President Gaddafi. I think I was the last President who talked to him and to discuss in the case of the Committee of the African Union. Since then, I have been the president of the Peace Committee and the African Committee on Libya. We work a lot on these Libyan issues. There are other examples.”
Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle and Dr Françoise Joly, Personal Representative of the President for Strategic Affairs and International Negotiations for the Republic of Congo, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 23, 2025. (Courtesy of the Republic of Congo)
Nguesso added that Trump’s comments about securing the ends of seven different conflicts worldwide—with more likely on the horizon—means a likelihood of economic boom for the whole world. He said he would be happy to help Trump achieve these goals and that peace is an important objective.
“As President Trump mentioned, he in seven months worked to stop the conflicts in 7 different parts of the world,” Nguesso said. “He also spoke about the growth and development in America, and this is also a valid point for every other country in the world — that if peace is achieved, there will be growth for all countries in the world. On all of these topics, I would be very happy to continue the discussion with President Trump. Peace really matters to me.”
Nguesso’s Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, is not to be confused with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or Congo-Kinshasa. The DRC has had a longstanding conflict with neighboring Rwanda that dates back more than 30 years, something Trump has been trying to end through peace negotiations between the two countries. A first phase of that deal was signed in Washington this summer with the foreign ministers of both countries joining Trump in the Oval Office after signing the deal. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, sat down with Breitbart News exclusively after that signing at Rwanda’s embassy in the United States in Washington, and spoke highly of the next steps, which center around a forthcoming deal being negotiated in Doha, Qatar, about M23 in Congo. After that next stage is finalized—which it has not yet been—Trump intends to host the presidents of Rwanda and DRC at the White House for a big signing ceremony.
Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle interviews President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 23, 2025. (Courtesy of the Republic of Congo)
Nguesso, while not a party to this conflict, told Breitbart News that his country is closely monitoring the peace talks and supports Trump’s aims to bring peace and stability to the region.
“My country lives in peace, and we continue to pursue our development efforts,” Nguesso said in the interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday. “However, in our region, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a conflict opposes the DRC and Rwanda. We are closely following the efforts undertaken by Mr. Trump to try to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict. I think it’s time this conflict ends because the Central African region, which I belong to, is a very rich region, and peace can allow the development of Africa and we want to reach the peace and the growth conditions in our region.”
Nguesso also told Breitbart News that the Republic of Congo would warmly welcome President Trump there if he ever wanted to visit.
“Of course, if President Trump were to honor us with a visit, we would welcome him warmly,” Nguesso said.
As for resources in the Republic of Congo specifically that could attract western investors, Nguesso said his country is rich in energy deposits and rare earths.
“For its size and population, our country possesses significant natural resources, both on the surface and underground,” Nguesso told Breitbart News. “We have oil, gas, substantial reserves of iron, copper, zinc, lead, phosphates, potash, and gold. We have abundant arable land. We have water resources throughout the country, year-round sunshine, and wildlife reserves. We have many resources. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten some.”
Nguesso said there has not yet been increased recent interest from the U.S. in pursuing these resources, however, but laid out how some American businesses like Chevron are active in the Republic of Congo. He also said that it is important for the U.S. to continue to build relations with African nations like his and pointed to summits that happened under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden that helped that forward—and said he is hopeful that the contacts developed then continue to flourish.
“Increased interest, I can’t say that,” Nguesso said. “We had the American oil company Chevron, which was here and operated for a long time. I must emphasize that Americans need to learn more about Africa. Often, when we talk with Americans, we get the impression that they don’t know much about Africa. You have to know the country, the people, so that we can work together. Otherwise, all African countries are open to cooperation with the United States. We have already held an Africa-US summit here, under President Obama, and then another one with Joe Biden. The contacts have already been established.”
Asked if the Republic of Congo would prefer to work with the United States as opposed to other world powers like Russia or China, Nguesso told Breitbart News “of course.” The Republic of Congo does have warm relations with those powers too, but the expressed preference for the U.S. to engage over those other powers seems important. Nguesso said that the Republic of Congo has “longstanding” relations with all three powers—China, Russia, and the United States—but emphasized that the relations with the U.S. have not been realized to their full potential yet.
“Africa is open to cooperation with all countries, particularly the most economically powerful ones, such as the United States, some European countries, Russia, and China,” Nguesso said. “Regarding the Republic of Congo, our relations with Russia and China are very longstanding, dating back to 1964. Our relations with the United States are also longstanding, but cooperation between us has not yet been fully developed.”
Nguesso said he and Trump briefly met in Paris, France, during the reopening of the Cathedral at Notre Dame but that he is hopeful for a deeper conversation soon with the president on these matters.
“We briefly met in Paris during the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, but we haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet again and discuss the future,” Nguesso said.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets first lady of the Republic of Congo, Antoinette Sassou Nguesso and President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso during the ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame of Paris Cathedral on December 07, 2024, in Paris, France. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Notre-Dame de Paris)
Another big thing that ties the Republic of Congo closely with the United States is both countries’ deep Christian backgrounds. Nguesso told Breitbart News that the vast majority of his population are Christian. He said he is hopeful that the cultural ties between the Republic of Congo and the U.S. could be replicated in economic partnership as well.
“The population of Congo is predominantly made up of Catholic Christians. There are also Protestants and evangelicals. Over 80 percent of the population is Christian,” Nguesso said. “I saw American pastors arrive in Congo and preach in full stadiums, mobilizing large crowds. If these kinds of connections could also develop in the economic sphere, that would be fantastic.”
Another major issue facing the Republic of Congo and more broadly nations along the Congo River Basin in Africa is conservation of the rainforest. This area of the world naturally captures more carbon than any other worldwide—even more than the Amazon in South America by some scientific estimates—and is therefore colloquially known as the world’s “Green Lung.” Preserving the rainforest is a major initiative his country and others in the region are working towards, and Nguesso told Breitbart News that this is the first year of a major plan worked out with the United Nations for forest restoration.
“These are the measures we are taking, both individually and as a region,” Nguesso said. “We have already mobilized 17 countries in the Congo Basin to work together to protect the forests and wildlife. We have established a fund for the Congo Basin, with the support of the World Bank. What we need now are more people and institutions with a willingness to contribute to growing this fund. I myself have taken steps with the United Nations to have the Decade of Forest Restoration officially declared. We are currently in the first year of this global decade.”
When it comes to combatting terrorism, Nguesso said that Libya is the “weakest link” in Africa and said that Trump and the United States could help by combatting that along with other African nations.
“I believe that, in my capacity as Chair of the African Union High-Level Committee on Libya, we consider that the weakening of the Libyan state or the state of near-anarchy that exists there, has facilitated the spread of terrorism from Libya and the Sahel region including countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and further afield, Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo. Therefore, we are working on this Libyan issue. We believe that the U.S. can help Africa resolve the Libyan problem. Libya is the weakest link, along with Somalia. But Libya is truly a focal point for terrorism in Africa. We believe that the current situation in Sudan is not conducive to moving things in the right direction. This issue is complex. Therefore, Sudan adds to our list of concerns.”
Nguesso also said that the Trump administration shuttering USAID has not affected his country at this time, but also called it a move “we can regret.”
“We can regret this decision, even though our country isn’t directly affected at the moment,” Nguesso said. “But it was an important link in cooperation between the U.S. and the rest of the world.”
President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso is interviewed by Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 23, 2025. (Courtesy of the Republic of Congo)
When it comes to global immigration issues, Nguesso said that the biggest issues facing Africa is the flow of people into Europe from Africa. Nguesso expressed support for a plan proposed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Mattei Plan designed to try to improve conditions in the countries of origin of these migrants so that instead of making sometimes deadly desperate journeys to Europe or the United States that they stay in their own countries.
“I was talking about young people earlier. I often discuss this issue with European leaders who complain about immigration which they consider illegal immigration,” Nguesso said. “These are young people who cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, via Libya. Thousands of them end up dying in the Mediterranean Sea. Those who manage to make it across arrive in Italy, and Europeans don’t want to accept them. So I ask: why don’t we create the right conditions in Africa so that these young people can stay there? So they can work in Africa. The potential is there. They wouldn’t need to go to Europe or America if the living, working, and development conditions were right in Africa. I’ve already had discussions like this with the Italian Prime Minister, Ms. [Giorgia] Meloni. We met in my country and then again in Rome. She has implemented an aid and support program, the Mattei Plan, to address this issue.”
Nguesso concluded the interview with Breitbart News by again making his case to the United States about the importance of economic collaboration with African nations like the Republic of Congo as the world looks to the future.
“I would like to add that we cannot imagine a major power like the United States not contributing significantly to the development of a continent that is right across the ocean,” Nguesso said. “A continent that desperately needs genuine support for its development. The potential for natural resources is there, and by 2050, Africa will have 2 billion inhabitants—a young and educated population. I believe there are tremendous opportunities for development, and it’s hard to understand why the U.S. wouldn’t be more involved.”
