The administration is aiming to strike deals to expand the United States’ access to critical minerals and to counter China’s rising influence in Africa.

President Trump is hosting 5 African leaders in Washington this week — a selective summit that's raising eyebrows over who was invited, what's on the table, and what it signals about U.S. rivalry with China and BRICS in Africa.

President Donald Trump told leaders from five African nations on Wednesday that he was shifting the U.S. approach to the continent from aid to trade and that the United States is a better partner for Africa than China.