Trump brokers another peace deal — this time in Africa

The White House announced today that the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have signed a final peace agreement, ending a conflict that has killed an estimated six million people over thirty years. President Trump presided over the signing in the Oval Office, flanked by the foreign ministers of both countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and other administration officials. The deal, which officials described as the "Washington Accord for the Great Lakes Region," was reached in just a few weeks of active U.S. mediation — a timeline the administration repeatedly emphasized as evidence of its effectiveness.

The war that ended

The conflict between the DRC and Rwanda has been described by officials at the signing as the deadliest since World War II, with an estimated six million people killed over three decades. The roots of the fighting trace back to the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when ethnic violence spilled across borders and became entangled with competition over the DRC's vast mineral wealth. Eastern Congo has been a battleground for armed groups, including the M23 rebel movement, which Rwanda has been accused of backing — a charge Kigali has long denied or framed as defensive.