US VP Vance cancels Kenya visit as Trump orders American officials to skip G20 summit
JD Vance’s Kenya trip canceled after Trump blocks US officials from attending G20, but Nairobi stresses strong bilateral ties remain intact.
Nairobi has announced that US Vice President JD Vance has cancelled his planned visit to Kenya after President Donald Trump directed American officials not to attend the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg.
"The Government of the Republic of Kenya ... has been informed by the Government of the United States of America of the cancellation of the planned visit to Kenya by the Vice President, His Excellency JD Vance," the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary said in a statement on Monday.
The statement added that "the cancellation follows the recent decision by President Donald Trump directing that American officials shall not attend the forthcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Vice President Vance was to lead the United States delegation before proceeding to Nairobi."
Although the language was diplomatically phrased to soften the announcement, the optics are sensitive.
Kenya had not publicly confirmed the visit, likely to mitigate potential embarrassment in case plans changed.
South Africa, the host of the G20 gathering, may view the withdrawal as a sign of Washington’s cooling engagement with multilateral forums on the continent.
Kenya’s statement stressed that it "values its longstanding and strategic partnership with the United States" and expressed confidence that the decision "will not affect the strong and enduring ties between our two nations."
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