Miami.- The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Saturday before a dozen Latin American leaders that he has no intention of learning Spanish: “I am not going to learn your damn language,” he said with laughter.
The Republican leader made these statements during a summit in Miami with right-wing presidents from the region, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.
During his speech, Trump emphasized that his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, of Cuban origin, has a “linguistic advantage” over him, given that he speaks Spanish.
“I am not going to learn your damn language. I don’t have time. I have no problem with languages, but I am not going to dedicate so much time to learning yours,” he declared with laughter.
The Republican said he prefers to have “a good interpreter” and then told an anecdote about a conversation with a foreign leader, whose identity he did not reveal, in which an interpreter did not translate well. According to him, he realized the error despite not understanding the language.
He also stated that it is of little use to have a good performance in negotiations with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, or Russian, Vladimir Putin, if the interpreter is not good.
Subsequently, Marco Rubio offered some words in Spanish, after which Trump joked that his Secretary of State “is better in Spanish” than in English.
Next, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took the floor, who declared with laughter that he only speaks “American.”
Summit only with right-wing leaders
Trump convened leaders of the Latin American right in a summit at a golf club in Florida to which the progressive leaders of Mexico, Brazil or Colombia were not invited.
The summit attendees are the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chavez; Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; El Salvador, Nayib Bukele; Guyana, Irfaan Ali; Honduras, Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Also attending is the president-elect of Chile, José Antonio Kast, who will take office next Wednesday.
