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Read MoreWhen Africa lobbies America, it favors Trump connections
With Trump in office, the ranks of lobbyists for African nations include: a right-wing Newsmax commentator, a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr., a Proud Boy who attacked Capitol Hill and extremist provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
By Andrew W. Lehren, Trenton Daniel, Peter Aldhous, Sonya Dymova and Ajibola Amzat
December 23, 2025
Zimbabwean Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, carries his briefcase as he arrives to present the National Budget for 2026 at the House of Parliament in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 27, 2025.
Unik Ernest is a New York party scene veteran—a denizen of the New York Post’s Page Six gossip page who lists his previous professional work with director Spike Lee, singers Rihanna and Katy Perry, tennis star Novak Djokovic and others.
After Donald J. Trump was re-elected as president, he posted a video on Facebook reminiscing about his occasions more than two decades earlier nightclubbing with Trump. Ernest was also spotted this year at Mar-A-Lago when the president announced increased tariffs.
Ernest’s connections apparently paid off. In the wake of protests claiming his election was unfair, Mozambique’s incoming president Daniel Chapo hired him as a lobbyist to burnish the politician’s image. Ernest had no prior documented work as a lobbyist.
He is far from alone. As African nations and political groups have been signing up those who appear to have connections with Trump and his family to represent their interests in America.
Since Trump was re-elected, African governments, state-run corporations, politicians and opposition leaders have been hiring new lobbyists, including a commentator for right-wing media outlet Newsmax, Trump campaign aides and fundraisers, a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr. and, briefly, provocateur and influencer Milo Yiannopoulos, along with an extremist Proud Boy.
In all, the lobbyists are set to earn millions from despots, opposition leaders and aspiring breakaway republics. Their stated goals include getting sanctions lifted, securing foreign aid, fighting tariffs, and—like with Mozambique’s Chapo—burnishing their image in the eyes of the United States.
A Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism investigation found the majority of groups in African countries that lobby the United States switched or added representatives once Trump emerged victorious in November 2024. Some hired new lobbyists, like Ernest. Others maintained their existing lobbying firms, but those representatives brought in new people close to Trump, his family and those in his orbit.
Anna Massoglia, a lobbying expert who worked for OpenSecrets and is now editor of MuckRock, said that while lobbyists typically change when a new president takes office, this time is different.
“It is to be expected for there to be some turnover when an administration changes. We saw that when Biden took office,” she said.
What is remarkable now, she said, is that the new lobbyists come with little experience and are banking on their connections with the president, not on their abilities to navigate federal agencies or members of Congress.
“With Trump in particular, we’ve seen lobbyists and foreign agents building their practices out of nothing—contingent in a large part on their relationships to Trump and his inner orbit,” according to Massoglia.
“With Trump in particular, we've seen lobbyists and foreign agents building their practices out of nothing—contingent in a large part on their relationships to Trump and his inner orbit.”
Now, she said, “it’s much more based on connections that are outside of the typical lobbying sphere.”
The changes come at a time that has been politically fraught for many African nations. In its opening months, the Trump administration has been cutting billions of dollars of foreign aid destined for Africa, especially after dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The president, in public comments, has disparaged African nations. Earlier this month, he called immigrants from Somalia “garbage.” In March, during his first formal address to Congress, Trump denigrated foreign assistance projects and jabbed, “nobody has ever heard of” Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom surrounded by South Africa. During his first term in office, he questioned why so many immigrants come from “shithole countries” in Africa.
To track lobbying by African nations, CCIJ examined filings required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, commonly known as FARA. When government agencies, state-owned businesses, politicians and opposition groups want to sway the U.S. government and American public opinion, their lobbyists are required to file paperwork with the U.S. Justice Department
An examination of these groups by country shows that two-thirds of the 54 nations in Africa reported lobbying the United States. Groups in about two dozen of these countries across the continent have added at least one new lobbyist since Trump was elected.
In addition, one country—Mauritius—took a different route. It ended all lobbying activity at the end of December 2024, almost two months after Trump defeated Democratic rival Kamala Harris and shortly before he took office.
A general view from Casela Nature Park in Mauritius. Mauritius ended all lobbying activity at the end of December 2024, almost two months after Trump defeated Democratic rival Kamala Harris and shortly before he took office. It joined the 14 African nations that once lobbied the United States but stopped.
It joined the 14 African nations that once lobbied the United States but stopped. Sierra Leone and Guinea stopped in the weeks before Trump’s election victory. Lesotho—the country that Trump joked no one has ever heard of—last lobbied the United States in 2013.
Ernest’s agreement with Mozambique offers a more straightforward example of how foreign lobbying can work.
The country’s president, Chapo, has been facing unrest. His party, Frelimo, has led the nation since its independence from Portugal 50 years ago. At the beginning of this year, protesters took to the streets and claimed his election was fraudulent. At least 300 people are estimated to have been killed in clashes with police.
“This tension and unrest is impacting Mozambique’s neighbors and its global perception and image,” according to the agreement to hire Ernest. His job would be to “minimize negative global coverage,” “discourage protests” and promote the country.
Ernest’s website and Facebook pages are filled with photographs with celebrities and politicians, including billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk. He mentions working on a party during Barack Obama’s inaugural celebrations, meeting other politicians and claiming he has advised “multiple” unnamed heads of state.
For Chapo, Ernest has worked “on global communication strategies and has been instrumental in connecting multiple governments with U.S. officials during the current administration,” according to his website.
When asked about the lobbying effort, Chapo responded to CCIJ, “I would like to inform you that any contractual relationship with external entities follows legal procedures and is guided by the principles of transparency and good governance. The hiring of consultancy services, when it occurs, is solely aimed at supporting development strategies and international cooperation for the benefit of the Mozambican people.”
Chapo added, “At this time, I have no further comments on the matter, but I remain open to future institutional collaborations that promote constructive dialogue and access to information.”
Ernest told CCIJ that he no longer works for Mozambique.
“We support African governments and principals in articulating priorities and building partnerships,” he wrote to CCIJ. “Our services focus on communications strategy, relationship-building, and programmatic alignment—rather than advocacy intended to influence U.S. government decision-making or political outcomes.”
He said his work for Mozambique fit that approach, “focused on strategic communications and partnership-building, not political access or government advocacy.”
Asked about his association with President Trump, Ernest wrote to CCIJ, “My interactions with President Trump were social and hospitality-related, dating back over 20 years in New York and at private venues, including events I hosted at Serafina and the opening of my lounge PM in the Meatpacking District in 2003. These were personal, not political.”
He did not respond to questions about previous lobbying work. CCIJ found no other FARA filings for previous lobbying he may have done.
Chapo hired Ernest to get $75,000 for three months of work. He was contracted to place op-eds in leading newspapers, put out a press release and target “global and international media outlets” such as Fox News, Reuters and CNN.
FARA calls for lobbyists to later provide evidence of their work. A review of public filings does not show that Ernest submitted examples of his press release or whether his efforts led to more favorable coverage. A CCIJ review of news sites like Fox News, Reuters and CNN coverage did not find any examples.
Milo and the Congo
Perhaps the most controversial chapter of African lobbying during Trump’s second term began in March, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo hired a newly formed lobbying firm, Earhart Turner.
Karen Giorno, Trump’s chief Florida campaign strategist during the 2016 election, formed Earhart Turner with right-wing influencer Milo Yiannopoulos. Giorno became its majority owner. Yiannopoulos got a 26 percent stake in the firm.
Among their first clients: The Democratic Republic of Congo hired them with a contract worth $5 million to promote its interests with Congress, the White House and unnamed government agencies. The work would be public relations and policy research on national security issues.
Yiannopoulos has long courted controversy. In 2017, he resigned from the conservative website Breitbart News after a backlash over his statements that appeared to condone pedophilia. He later disavowed supporting sex between adults and underage youths. In 2024, he helped arrange Trump’s infamous dinner with white nationalist and avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes, a gathering that included Giorno and rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye.
In addition to her work for the Trump campaign, Giorno worked on a failed congressional campaign for right-wing influencer Laura Loomer.
For staff, the firm hired Nicholas Robert Ochs, a founding member and leader of the Hawaiian chapter of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist organization, as research director.
Ochs had been sentenced to four years in prison following his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. At one point that day, he said, “we stormed the fuckin’ U.S. Capital and made Congress flee,” according to a statement Ochs gave federal prosecutors admitting his guilt. He was pardoned by Trump soon after taking office.
The same month that Earhart Turner was created, the DRC flew the firm to Africa for four days, according to its FARA filings. The documents are unclear which members of the firm made the trip. The stated purpose was for “an introductory meeting” with DRC officials.
In March, both sides agreed to a contract. Earhart Turner would get $5 million for six months of work for DRC president Felix Tshisekedi along with prominent politicians Kolongele Eberande and Andre Wameso. The stated goals included “a stronger economic partnership and security assistance” between the DRC and the U.S. The effort would entail “an informational campaign across all mediums to inform the public of the urgency and importance of client’s issues.”
A month later, the deal fell apart. Politico reported on the contract. Several days later, DRC presidential spokeswoman Tina Salama announced that DRC had suspended “all contracts, procedures, or lobbying proposals” in the U.S., “in particular the contract with Earhart Turner.”
In her press release, Salama said the reason the DRC canceled the contract is because of a “mutually-expressed will to relaunch strategic partnerships,” the DRC will “give priority to direct exchanges with the new (Trump) Administration via official and authorized channels.”
In June, Yiannopoulos left the firm, and Giorno took over his stake in the operation.
Yet the lobbying firm has continued work in Africa.
In the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire—the Ivory Coast—Tidjane Thiam, a former Credit Suisse executive, emerged this year as the main opposition party leader vying for the country’s presidency. But in April, a court ruled Thiam’s name should be removed from the ballot because he was also a French national when he registered as a candidate.
Supporters of coalition parties PDCI (Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire) and PPA-CI (African People’s Party of Cote d’Ivoire) march to protest the removal of their leaders names, Tidjane Thiam and Laurent Gbagbo, from the electoral list calling for an inclusive and peaceful election in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. President Alassane Ouattara’s bid for a fourth term, enabled by a 2016 constitutional change resetting term limits, further deepened political divisions, raising fears of unrest in a country with a history of election related violence.
In the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire—the Ivory Coast—Tidjane Thiam, a former Credit Suisse executive, emerged this year as the main opposition party leader vying for the country’s presidency. But in April, a court ruled Thiam’s name should be removed from the ballot because he was also a French national when he registered as a candidate. Thousands of protesters demanded his reinstatement.
In August, Thiam and his party enlisted Earhart Turner to “promote democracy and advocate for free and fair elections in the upcoming elections” and “shine a spotlight on corruption” and other issues in the Ivory Coast.
The price agreed upon: $90,000 for three months of work. Earhart Turner would team up with Christopher Harvin, a former Trump campaign aide whose own lobbying firm, GlobalPoint International, has previously worked for the DRC and a Libyan government advisory institute.
In exchange, their work would include lobbying, media outreach and planning a possible trip for a party delegation to Washington, D.C.
Earhart Turner, Yiannopoulos, the DRC and Thiam did not respond to requests for comment. Harvin declined to comment for this story.
Massoglia said these kinds of efforts for opposition leaders are not unusual. Overseas political leaders seek U.S. support in part because it may spark additional international backing, which may help their cause back home. The effort did not work. Thiam was banned from the election. In October, Ivory Coast’s longtime incumbent President Alassane Ouattara won by an overwhelming margin to secure a fourth term. The Trump administration congratulated Ouattara on his re-election. Thiam’s party denounced the election as a “civilian coup d’etat,” saying they would not recognize Ouattara as the nation’s elected leader.
After Tidjane Thiam was banned from the election, Ivory Coast’s longtime incumbent President Alassane Ouattara won by an overwhelming margin to secure a fourth term. The Trump administration congratulated Outtara on his re-election. Thiam’s party denounced the election as a “civilian coup d’etat,” saying they would not recognize Ouattara as the nation’s elected leader.
Left, Ivorians wait in line to cast their ballots in the presidential elections and, right, Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara also casts his ballot in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on October 25, 2025.
Meanwhile, a month before Trump won re-election, the Sudanese embassy hired Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm well known for its Trump connections. Its founding partner, Brian Ballard, the company’s founder, has been a major fundraiser for Trump. Pam Bondi worked there before becoming attorney general. So did Susie Wiles, a top Trump campaign advisor who is now his White House chief of staff.
Sudan is facing severe U.S. and international sanctions in the wake of its civil war, alleged war crimes and massive famine. Ballard was hired to foster bilateral relations, promote trade and foreign aid.
As part of its work, the firm voiced concerns about sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against the country’s leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. In March, it emailed requests to meet with members of Trump’s National Security Council. It did not report any meetings taking place.
The agreement added up to $300,000 for six months of work. The contract was not renewed.
Ballard declined to comment. The Sudanese embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Other lobbying contracts proved ephemeral.
In December 2024, the African Union’s Mission to the U.S. hired Ford & London Global Strategies, led by Diana London, a commentator and columnist for the right-wing media outlet Newsmax who is an avowed Trump supporter.
The African Union’s mission strives to develop ties with America. The lobbying effort included the goal of ending U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other individuals accused of corruption and human rights violations, to promote increased trade aligned with Trump’s “America First” agenda, according to the filing.
But in July, Ford & London reported it had “never ended up representing the client.”
Neither Ford & London nor the African Union responded to requests for comment.
Lobbyists make inroads in Washington
Still others in Trump’s orbit have had more success lobbying.
Iraq War veteran Christopher J. Neiweem is a Republican strategist who endorsed Trump on Fox News. He also appeared on Russia Today decrying Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the alleged conspiracy into whether Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won. The president had called the probe a “witch hunt.” Neiweem registered in January to lobby on behalf of Jimi Richard Wanjigi, a prominent businessman in Kenya who is eager to run for president. The terms were set at $525,000 for six months, with options to renew.
As proof of his efforts, Neiweem reported under FARA that he got a Democratic congressman from Virginia to write a letter supporting Wanjigi’s effort to secure a visa to visit the United States. It is unclear whether Wanjigi got the visa and made a trip.
That is not the only work Neiweem has gotten in Africa.
In June, he signed a six-month, $42,000 contract to represent the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in South Sudan to free party leaders it believes have been unlawfully detained. His firm, Arsenal Government Relations and Public Affairs Group, pledged to meet with White House staff, journalists as well as members of the House and Senate Foreign Relations committees and their aides. The company’s most recent FARA filings do not state whether those efforts led to meetings.
Neiweem declined to comment for this story. Wanjigi and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement did not respond to requests for comment.
Soon after Trump’s victory, Nicolas Lloreda, a former Colombian diplomat whose lobbying firm, Primus Responsum, pushed to secure a frozen ExIm Bank loan for TotalEnergies, which is partly owned by the Mozambique government along with the French petroleum giant Total. The ExIm Bank is a U.S. government agency designed to promote international trade. The loan, valued at almost $5 billion, is for a liquid natural gas facility.
The Biden administration froze the loan after a deadly attack by Islamic extremists killed civilians and gas workers near the facility in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.
The Trump administration unfroze the loan in March.
Lloreda does not appear to be in Trump’s orbit. Among other public comments, he was quoted in a newspaper saying that the president is “a narcissist.”
TotalEnergies declined to comment for this story. Lloreda did not respond to requests for comment.
Sudan is facing severe U.S. and international sanctions in the wake of its civil war, alleged war crimes and massive famine. Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm well known for its Trump connections, was hired to foster bilateral relations, promote trade and foreign aid.
Left, in Darfur, Sudan, Internally Displaced People (IDP) wait in long lines for aid and, right, Sudanese women and children dig in a dry river bed for water.
Shortcomings in filings
The documents may not give a complete account of all lobbying. FARA filings are known to sometimes be incomplete and not updated. That is clear in documents involving Africa.
Former Gabon president El Hadj Omar Bongo, for instance, is still listed as actively lobbying the U.S. government, employing two firms to work for him. Bongo died 16 years ago.
One of the lobbyists listed as still working for him is Pierre Salinger, a former press secretary for President John F. Kennedy. Salinger passed away more than two decades ago.
The Justice Department’s website for foreign lobbying has a page so visitors can check filings for any country in the world, regardless of whether they have lobbied. But there is no option to select the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau. A further examination by CCIJ confirmed that, along with Gambia and Cabo Verde, it is one of three countries on the continent that has never reported lobbying in America.
The Justice Department has worked to disclose lobbying activities that have gone unreported. A former CIA agent, Dale Bendler, pled guilty in April for unauthorized and unreported work as a lobbyist for Angola government’s sovereign wealth fund that ran for at least three years, starting in 2017. He recently reported on that lobbying from the past only as part of his recent plea.
Still, the Justice Department documents offer a window into the workings of Washington, D.C., and how African governments are seeking meetings, placing phone calls and trying to gain favors.
Donald Trump Jr.’s hunting friend
Charles “Ches” F. McDowell IV founded Checkmate Government Relations in Winston-Salem, N.C. in 2023. He is reportedly a hunting friend of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. Since February 2021, the two have co-owned a piece of North Carolina woodland, public records show. They call the place The Bear Store. McDowell, according to one profile, sports a MAGA tattoo on his left leg.
The firm’s staff includes Chris LaCivita Jr., whose father worked as a senior advisor on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and Jackson Hines, a nephew and former advisor to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In June, Checkmate added a new client: AMS Art Media Production, an Istanbul-based media company tied to the Libyan government. The agreement is for $150,000 a month to “provide policy advice and outreach concerning the U.S.-Libya economic/commercial relationship.”
The company’s filings do not detail more about the work. Checkmate and AMS Art Media did not respond to requests for comment.
Beginning in 2018, Morocco hired the lobbying firm ThirdCircle Inc., owned by Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast executive. That year, he accompanied Scott Pruitt, then Environmental Protection Agency secretary, on a trip to the country. The lavish trip entailed travel at U.S. government expense and was among the myriad of ethical concerns that preceded Pruitt’s resignation that year.
In December 2024, Third Circle added Garrett Ventry, a Republican who served as a GOP spokesman for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings to join the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh was facing allegations of sexual harassment. But Ventry resigned during the hearings when details emerged that he was fired from a previous political job because of sexual harassment allegations. Ventry has denied any misconduct.
ThirdCircle said the goals of its work is to set up meetings for the Embassy of Morocco, address Moroccan national security and promote filmmakers to go to Morocco.
Weeks after Trump was re-elected, ThirdCircle called and texted several close to the incoming president. The list included Rubio, Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff. Rubio would become Secretary of State, Waltz would be named U.N. ambassador and Witkoff a special envoy. The documents do not detail any conversations
ThirdCircle and Morocco did not respond to requests for comment.
Morocco paid the firm $100,000 plus expenses during the first half of the year for its efforts.
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