Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar shared a light moment with Donald Trump during the Summit of the Americas in Florida on Saturday when the US president joked about the similarity between her first name and that of former US vice-president Kamala Harris.
While acknowledging the presence of regional leaders at the gathering in Doral, Florida, Trump paused when he came to Persad-Bissessar’s name.
“Your name is very similar to a first name that we have, but fortunately it’s pronounced differently,” Trump said.
“This is Kamla as opposed to Kamala. I like Kamla better, in many ways. And I have to say thank you very much, but I have to be careful with that first name. I don’t want to get it mixed up because it would ruin your reputation completely.”
Trump, drawing laughter from those present, continued by recounting a brief exchange with the Trinidad and Tobago leader about the pronunciation of her name.
“I said this is the same pronunciation. She said, ‘No sir, it’s a little different.’ It’s Kam-la as opposed to Kam,” he said, emphasising the distinction.
“We don’t like ‘Kam’,” he added, in an apparent reference to Harris, whom he defeated in the 2025 US presidential election.
Harris served as the first female, first Black and first South Asian-American vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. Born in California, she is the daughter of immigrants: her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was from India, and her father, Donald J. Harris, is from Jamaica.
The exchange took place during the 2026 Summit of the Americas, branded this year as the “Shield of the Americas” summit.
Trump later handed a pen to Persad-Bissessar after signing a proclamation committing to countering cartel criminal activity.
The meeting brings together leaders from across the Western Hemisphere to discuss regional security, migration and strategies aimed at reducing the influence of rival global powers in the Americas. (Trinidad Express)
