President Donald Trump had a lot to say at the National Prayer Breakfast held inside the Washington Hilton hotel this week, where he delivered a meandering 77-minute speech in Washington, D.C.
Cabinet members such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi were both in attendance to hear Trump, 79, brag about the first year of his second term and rant about how he feels mistreated by his political adversaries.
Several foreign dignitaries attended the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, which was established to foster nonpartisan fellowship, including the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi.
At one point, Trump acknowledged the leaders from over 100 countries at the gathering, with the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, getting a special shout-out by name, while Congo’s Tshisekedi’s name was completely absent.
Nearly 30 minutes later, he was caught telling the audience, “We’re joined today by a very, very brave and wonderful man, the president of the Congo.”
Tshisekedi’s name was never said. Instead, Trump said “president,” then paused briefly as if his brain was overloaded, before looking to the left and saying, “President, would you stand up, please?”
‘President, thank you,” he continued, slurring his words during his speech. Tshisekedi, who was seated at a table on the left side of the stage, rose to a standing ovation from the other attendees in the building.
After repeatedly calling out “president,” whom he never named, Trump described him as “a brave man.” Yet, his unique choice of words were better suited for an insult rather than a compliment.
“I know what you’ve been through. I know that one very well,” he proclaimed, again without mentioning his name.
That awkward moment between Trump and Tshisekedi quickly grabbed the internet’s attention and ignited online blowback over his backhanded compliment
“I think we should drop Trump off in the middle of the Congo and tell him that if he’s able to find his way out on his own, that we will give him that peace prize,” one person on Threads sarcastically suggested.
A second poster stated, “Jesus. He makes no sense whatsoever. No clue.” Another added, “I guarantee that all Trump was thinking about as he stood at that podium was the color of his skin.”
Debates broke out on X as people tried to explain why Trump went completely blank when mentioning the Congolese president in front of the world. One person speculated, “He didn’t forget. He just couldn’t pronounce his name.”
A like-minded individual echoed that Trump struggled with the pronunciation of Tshisekedi by offering, “It’s on the teleprompter. He just cannot figure out how to say it. They didn’t add the ‘phonetic spelling’ for him.”
“How embarrassing, and not even in the top 10 worst parts of this ‘prayer breakfast’,” someone else tweeted.
Trump also used his time at the National Prayer Breakfast to blast Democrats, fume about his loss in the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden, and unleash extended tirades regarding any criticism that has irritated him since returning to the White House in 2025.
Thursday’s awkward pause was not the first time Trump has struggled with the name, Tshisekedi, or even the Democratic Republic of the Congo itself.
In August, while boasting about a peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda, Trump briefly referred to the nation as the “Republic of Condo” before correcting himself.
Months later, at a December press event celebrating the agreement with Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, Trump again hesitated for several seconds as he worked through the DRC president’s name — a moment that drew quiet attention at the time and now feels more familiar than isolated.
Having to put out political fires on a near-daily basis has left Trump feeling burnt. His detractors refuse to let up on highlighting his public blunders, so possibly offending a potential ally like Tshisekedi could backfire on the elderly MAGA frontman.
