The Republic of Chad has announced a retaliatory visa ban on citizens of the United States, less than 24 hours after President Trump of the U.S. included nationals of the African country among one of the 12 countries barred from entering the U.S.
Trump, in a proclamation, stated that the affected countries harbour terrorists and that their entry into the U.S. poses a high risk to American residents.
In retaliation, Chad’s President, Mahamat Idriss Deby, announced that his country has suspended the issuance of visas to U.S. citizens.
Hitting back at Trump, Chad’s President stated that even though his country “has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give,” it will preserve its dignity and pride.
Deby was referring to the $400 million luxury plane donated by the ruling family of Qatar to the Trump administration in May 2025.
It isn’t the first time President Trump would outrightly ban some countries from entering the U.S. He had a similar policy during his first term in office, saying the affected countries have “deficient” and “weak screening and vetting” procedures in detecting and prosecuting terrorist elements.
Similarly, spokesperson for the Republic of Congo, Thierry Moungalla, said his country is not a terrorist country and “not home to any terrorist, is not known to have a terrorist vocation.”
Moungalla promised that his country would deploy diplomatic measures to resolve the row that led Trump to include the Republic of Congo in the list of countries banned from entering the U.S.