Mali and Burkina Faso have banned U.S. citizens from entering their countries in retaliation after the Trump administration imposed similar restrictions on their citizens.
Foreign news agencies reported on Wednesday, 31 Dec 2025 GMT+7, that Mali and Burkina Faso announced measures banning U.S. citizens from traveling into their countries, in response to President Donald Trump's government banning citizens of both countries from entering the U.S. earlier in December.
In a joint statement from the foreign ministries of Mali and Burkina Faso on Tuesday night, they said the action was taken based on the principle of "reciprocity" after the White House announced on 16 Dec that President Trump had added both countries to the list of nations fully banned from traveling to the U.S.
The White House stated that the expansion of the travel ban, set to take effect on 1 Jan 2026 GMT+7, targets countries with clear, ongoing, and serious deficiencies in screening individuals and sharing information, aiming to protect the U.S. from threats to national security and public safety.
On Tuesday, Mali said the U.S. government's decision to add their country to the travel ban list was made without prior consultation and that the reasons cited did not align with the "actual local situation."
Mali and Burkina Faso are not the first countries to ban U.S. civilians from entering in response to the Trump administration's actions; on 25 Dec, neighboring Niger announced it would suspend visa issuance to U.S. citizens, following Chad, which imposed a similar ban in June.
Source:cnn