President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Washington DC on Saturday in a landmark visit that will see him convene with President Donald Trump.

Among the issues that are expected to take center stage in the Uhuru-Trump talks is security, governance, trade and investment partnerships.

According to Foreign Ambassador Cabinet Secretary (CS) Monica Juma, Uhuru Kenyatta’s meeting with Trump illustrates the significance of Kenya-US relations, which dates back to history.

“It underscores the importance of Kenya-US relations, a relationship that is historical and that has been growing in both breadth and depth over the years to cover a wide range of areas from security and defence to governance, trade and investment,” the CS said.

shithole countries and foreign trade – what’s in it for Kenya?

Trump’s election campaign ran against foreign trade, foreign wars and immigration restrictions as he promised to put the interests of America first as enshrined in his slogan; Make America Great Again and true to his word he has remained unapologetic about putting the interests of America above anything else.

A contentious question that has been floating around since he came to power is just what a Trump presidency means for Africa? And the implications his governance will have on the continent considering that his manifesto had zero policy on the region, a clear indication that unlike his predecessors, who made legislative initiatives in favour of Africa, the continent is not in his list of priorities and therefore Trump’s meeting with Kenyatta is indeed interesting in several aspects.

Kenya particularly had been touted as one of the African countries that will likely feel the weight of change of guard in the White House if initiatives like PEPFAR are curtailed in line with Trump’s threat to cut aid.

In May 2017, USAID suspended $21m funding for the Ministry Of Health (MOH).

Monica Juma has said that in his talks with Trump, Kenyatta will also discuss how Kenya can gain more from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“We are a key beneficiary of AGOA. But it is also true that there are a number of lines within AGOA that we could enhance. And so, there will be discussions around this. And we hope we can also commence discussions on post-AGOA arrangements,” said Juma.

KENYANS DEPORTED FROM US

Since Trump was sworn in as the president of the United States, at least 100 Somalis and seven Kenyans had been deported by June 2017.