Did President Trump Meet With The Nigerien Ambassador After Reciprocal Visa Ban?
On December 27, 2025, an X user @cecild84 made a claim that President Donald Trump has invited the Nigerien Ambassador to the United States, despite the Niger republic imposing a reciprocal ban on US citizens. The post which had an image of President Trump with Nigerien Ambassador, Clémence Aïssatou Baré was captioned, “Donald Trump invited the Nigerien Ambassador to the US, knowing full well that Niger has issued a reciprocal ban on entry for US citizens, and still approving her credentials and taking photo with her. Donald Trump respects strong and assertive African leaders.”
When this report was published, this claim had about 4,823 views and over 197 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. In the comment @marvis_eboka said “That’s the language they understand” and @mamba_rider wrote “When you respect yourself even the bully respects you.”
VERIFICATION
In order to ascertain the originality of the image used in this claim, the fact checker conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens. Results revealed that the woman pictured with Trump is AÏSSATOU CLÉMENCE BARÉ, the Ambassador representing Niger republic in U.S. The image was taken during the official visit of fourteen new ambassadors, including those from the DRC, Ghana, the African Union, Namibia, Niger, and Seychelles to the White House in Washington DC on December 16, 2025. A translation of the accompanying write up in the claim reads: ‘UNITED STATES Diplomacy: Donald Trump receives the Nigerien ambassador amid mutual visa denials.’
However, it was not until December 18, 2025 that President Donald Trump’s administration announced an expanded list of countries whose nationals, including students applying for F, M, and J visas, will be banned from entering the United States as visitors or immigrants, with effect from January 1, 2026. Amongst these restricted countries is the Republic of Niger. In response, Niger’s military-led government announced a reciprocal ban on the entry of US citizens, citing diplomatic parity and national sovereignty.
While it is true that Niger announced a ban on visas and entry for US citizens as a reciprocal measure after the United States imposed travel restrictions affecting Nigerien nationals, there are no verified or credible reports showing that Donald Trump personally invited the Nigerien Ambassador to the United States after the reciprocal ban was announced. No official White House statement or US State Department release.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Donald Trump invited the Nigerien Ambassador to the United States, despite Niger imposing a reciprocal ban on US citizens, is MISLEADING. Although Niger has officially imposed a reciprocal ban on the entry of US citizens in response to American travel restrictions, there is no credible or verifiable evidence that Donald Trump invited the Nigerien Ambassador to the United States, rather the new ambassador has just taken up her post in the U.S., and was at the White House to present her certificate which is the verified context of the circulating image.
